19th March 2024
Sitges News

‘Slow drive’ protest against toll charges sees collapse of C-32 for half an hour

Around 500 vehicles took part in a ‘slow drive’ on Sunday, called by the main political, economic and neighbourhood associations of the Garraf and Baix Penedès areas of Catalonia, to demand the free use of the C-32 motorway for round trips made in the same day.

The vehicles congregated in Vilanova i la Geltrú and accessed the C-32 as far as Sitges, where they occupied all the northbound lanes and reduced speed to the point of causing a traffic jam that lasted for half an hour.

The organisers are protesting that the residents and businesses of the area are the only ones in Catalonia who have the obligation to pay a toll to use the main route to the city, given that they do not consider the C-31 as an alternative. They have also stated their intention to follow up their protest in Barcelona.

‘We are not here on a whim. We shouldn’t have to pay up to 25 euros to go and return from Barcelona, and it is not about paying more or less, it’s about not paying at all, like the rest of the Catalonia,’ said Jaume Casañas, Mayor of Cunit and spokesperson for the Penedès Marítim platform.

The president of the Garraf Regional Council, Mònica Gallardo, also stressed that the protest was not from one single sector or association, but unanimous. ‘Today we are not represented here just by the mayors of the territory and the presidents of the two county councils, but also the majority of unions, the employers’ association, the Federation of Employers of the Greater Penedès, the university and the health consortium, in addition to the neighbourhood associations,’ she said. 

Prior to the ‘slow drive’, the Mossos d’Esquadra established the parameters of how it had to be held, with an agreement in place that the speed would not fall below 60 kmh on the road that has a maximum speed of 120 kmh. Mossos vehicles were at the start of the convoy and a helicopter was also deployed.

The protest started a few minutes after 5pm in the Ronda d’Europe of Vilanova but the volume of participating vehicles meant that the speed slowed below what had been agreed. The ‘slow drive’ ended in Sitges, but even after Sant Pere de Ribes a traffic jam in the north direction had been formed. It finally caused the road to collapse for half an hour, although traffic did not stop completely at any time.

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