Tailbacks on main roads expected all weekend as holidaymakers return home

TRAFFIC is likely to be extremely heavy on Spain's main roads this weekend as millions return home after their August holidays.

Residents in large, land-locked cities, especially Madrid, will be leaving their coastal resorts ready to start work again on Monday.

Likewise, tourists from France and other northern European nations who have travelled down to Spain by car will be heading back.

Very little congestion was seen yesterday (Friday) except at Spain's northern border, although more is expected today and gridlocks are predicted to reach a peak by Sunday, being the last day of August and of the weekend.

The N-340 through the province of Tarragona and the AP-7 motorway past Barcelona - both in Catalunya - suffered tailbacks last night, as did the A-5 motorway coming out of Madrid.

But traffic jams of up to 14 kilometres long were reported in the Basque Country in the border town of Behobia heading towards France, and eight kilometres long on the AP-8 in Zarautz (Guipúzcoa province, also in the Basque Country) crossing the frontier towards the more northerly nation.

A total of around 4.2 million cars are expected to be on the roads over this weekend.

And traffic police will be out in force, given that accident rates are always higher in summer.

This year, 112 people died on Spain's roads in July and so far, 102 in August, making the total similar to that of summer 2013 when 212 were killed over the two months.