Traffic diversions and alternative routing for National Day celebrations

September 11 in Barcelona will see mobility severely reduced in the city due to the celebration of Catalonia's National Day, and the massive pro-independence demonstration taking place simultaneously.

The epicenter of the protest will be Plaça Espanya, one of the biggest squares in Barcelona and central to the driving routes of the city, with six large roads leading to and from it, including Parallel and Gran Vía. This will make driving in the area impossible for the majority of the day, and alternative routes will be necessary. 

On Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina, in between Plaça Espanya and the MNAC museum, there will be a stage set up and various acts taking place on Wednesday, September 11. However, the road has already been closed since Monday morning, and will remain shut off from traffic until Thursday afternoon. 

In addition, on Tuesday, September 10, from 8.30 in the morning and throughout the day, there will be restrictions due to the setting up of infrastructures on all streets surrounding Plaça Espanya.

On the National Day, Wednesday, September 11th, Plaça Espanya will be completely closed to the circulation from 2:30 in the afternoon. Therefore, at this time all the traffic in the immediate area will be diverted. The rest of the streets where the protest will take place will be closed after 3 pm.

The event is scheduled to end at 6:45 pm, so from this time on, assuming the gathered crowd of people allows it, the adjacent streets surrounding the epicenter of the demonstration will begin to open. 

It is estimated that the entire vicinity will be open to cars once again after 9:00 p.m. The avenue of Reina Maria Cristina, however, will remain closed until the following day, September 12.

Public transport and services

From 6 in the morning until approximately midnight, bus routes will be diverted away from the area. Many bus lines will be avoiding the area from Plaça Espanya to Passeig de Gràcia, as well as Carrer de Tarragona, Carrer de la Creu Coberta, and Parallel Avenue.

In total, all the bus lines that will be affected are: D20, D40, D50, H12, H14, H16, V7, V9, V11, V13, V15, V19, 7, 13, 19, 21, 22, 24, 46, 47, 52, 54, 55, 59, 62, 63, 65, 67, 79, 109, 120, and 150.

Click here to see all affected bus services, streets, and times. 

To compensate for this, underground metro services are expected to operate with more frequency, to help the flow of passengers looking to move around the city.

The Barcelona-Vallès and Llobregat-Anoia FGC commuter lines will also run with extra services. However, the rest of the commuter train routes, both FGS and Renfe, will operate as normal. 

Eleven Bicing stations, the majority of which in the vicinity of Plaça Espanya, will also be shut for most of the day while the activities are ongoing.