Three people have died in separate road crashes in Catalonia during the Diada holiday departure operation, according to the Servei Català del Trànsit (SCT), Catalonia's traffic authority. Two of those killed were motorcyclists.
For drivers and riders travelling during the long weekend, the deaths coincided with exceptionally heavy traffic: SCT said that more than 540,000 vehicles had left Barcelona and its metropolitan area between Thursday night and Friday afternoon. By 15:00, 98.4% of the 550,000 departures forecast for the operation had taken place.
Authorities called for “maximum caution” and adherence to road-safety rules, particularly among motorcyclists.
Three fatal collisions in less than 16 hours
- N-340, Altafulla: A 27-year-old woman from l’Arboç died after a collision involving three vehicles at kilometre 1,174.6 at 22:25 on Thursday. Four other people were injured.
- N-260, Ribera d’Urgellet: At 13:33 on Friday, a motorcyclist died after a head-on collision with a car.
- C-59, Caldes de Montbui: Ten minutes later, at 13:43, another motorcyclist died after a crash involving a car and a motorcycle.
Safety warning for holiday traffic
The two motorcycle crashes occurred in the space of ten minutes, on roads in Alt Urgell and Vallès Oriental respectively. SCT has urged all road users, and motorcyclists in particular, to take extra care during the busy holiday period.
Drivers and riders travelling this evening or during the weekend should follow the traffic authority’s call for maximum caution, comply with road-safety rules and take particular care on the N-340, N-260 and C-59 routes where the fatal collisions occurred.
Primary sources: govern.cat. Reported by russpain.com, El País, elcaso.elnacional.cat, cope.es, 20minutos.es, CatalunyaPress.cat, lleidadiari.cat, ACN, gentedigital.es, radio onda cero, cronicaglobal.cat, beteve.cat, metropoliabierta.elespanol.com, elpuntavui.cat, naciodigital.cat.
