Briefing
The Dirección General de Tráfico (full name: Spanish traffic authority) has announced a special operation for the final stage of summer travel in 2026, running from Friday, 28 August 2026 at 15:00 until Monday, 31 August 2026 at 24:00. The authority expects the DGT in Asturias during this Operación Retorno to see approximately 188,000 journeys. For Spain as a whole, it forecasts about 6,880,000 journeys during the final travel wave.
The measures include traffic management, increased monitoring on main routes and information services for travellers. In addition to personnel from the Agrupación de Tráfico and the Guardia Civil, the DGT’s eight traffic management centres will be deployed, along with technical monitoring equipment such as fixed and mobile speed cameras, helicopters Pegasus, drones, monitoring cameras and unmarked vehicles to check seatbelt use and mobile phone use.
To ease congestion on particularly vulnerable routes, the DGT plans temporary suspension of roadworks, restrictions on vehicles carrying dangerous goods and regulations for heavy transport. The authority warns of expected peak periods: particularly on Friday afternoon (especially between 15:00 and 22:00), on Saturday morning for short-distance journeys, and on Sunday afternoon, when people returning from holidays use the main routes.
Travellers are advised to stagger their journeys, allow sufficient time for breaks, secure loads and seatbelts correctly, and strictly observe safe following distances and speed limits. Journeys should be adjusted or postponed in adverse weather.
The figures and timings cited come from the DGT press release of 26 August 2026 and regional reporting by Europa Press in Asturias on 27 August 2026. Forecasts of actual traffic volumes are uncertain; the DGT reserves the right to adjust operational measures at short notice.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).