From 3:00 p.m. this Friday until midnight on January 6, Three Kings Day, Spanish roads will face one of the most mobile operations of the entire year, in which second homes and areas for practicing winter sports in high mountains as well as visits to family and friends line the routes. The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) predicts that these days around 22.4 million trips will be made, which is why it has implemented a special surveillance and control system that includes thousands of people.
The fact that the holiday falls on a weekday has made the three phases into which the Christmas special operation is divided longer than on other occasions. The first phase (Christmas) begins tomorrow Friday at 3:00 p.m. and will continue until midnight on Thursday, December 25, Christmas Day. Some 8.5 million trips are planned. The second phase includes New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve. It will take place from Friday, December 26 to Thursday, January 1. The third and final (Three Kings) will take place from Friday January 2 to Tuesday January 6, the date on which the Christmas special will end.
During Operation Christmas 2024-2025, 51 deaths were recorded and 20.8 million trips were recorded, or 8% more than in previous Christmases, according to DGT data. This reflects the trend recorded over the last year, in which mobility throughout the Spanish territory increases considerably.
These dates are characterized by short and long distance routes both on weekends and during holidays. Second homes, high mountain areas, winter tourist attractions and large commercial areas are the most chosen points by drivers on these dates, resulting in long traffic jams and traffic jams, especially in large cities and outlying areas.
The DGT indicated that it had prepared a special system on the roads which includes “regulatory, planning and monitoring measures that guarantee mobility and fluidity on the roads and, at the same time, ensure road safety”, according to a press release published on Thursday.
The agents of the Traffic Group of the Civil Guard, the workers of the Traffic Management Centers, the helicopter personnel and all the operators of equipment maintenance and installation of road measures will be at full capacity. Among its functions, both facilitating mobility and traffic flow and ensuring road safety on the roads, the installation of reversible and additional lanes through signage, beacons and cones during rush hours and alternative routes will be established.
During the duration of the special traffic operation, road works will also be paralyzed, the holding of sporting events and other events involving the occupation of the road will be limited, and the movement of goods trucks in general and those transporting certain goods will be restricted on certain sections, dates and times. In the event of adverse weather conditions such as snow, ice, fog, rain or wind, they will be responsible for ensuring that all types of vehicles – passenger cars, trucks and coaches – can travel on the roads.
Operation Christmas will also be characterized by increased surveillance. To achieve this, the human and technical resources available to the DGT and the Civil Guard will act: fixed and mobile speed control radars, in addition to helicopters, drones, cameras and camouflaged vans to control the use of cell phones and seat belts. Indeed, speed and alcohol controls will be intensified in order to prevent road accidents. It should be remembered that the start of this special operation coincides with an extraordinary campaign to control alcohol and drug consumption that began last Monday 15 and will last until Sunday 21, during which there will be checkpoints at any time of the day and at any point of the road network.
Traffic maintains information on any incident on the road through the traffic bulletins of the various radio and television stations, on the web, on their profiles on X @DGTes and @InformacionDGT and on the telephone 011.
The complete system can be consulted on the DGT website, a document where we find traffic forecasts, the most unfavorable periods for driving, historical maps, road safety advice and standards, traffic regulation and management measures, as well as traffic operations by the Autonomous Communities.
Last year, the DGT opted for a friendly advertising campaign, in which a family drove very carefully because they were bringing Christmas lunch and dinner. They wanted everything to arrive perfectly at its destination. This year, however, it introduced the consequences of distracted driving, such as checking a message on your cell phone, in a much more impactful ad. The advert tells of the death of a mother and her daughter and the serious consequences this brings for the murderous driver, whose life loses all meaning.
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