Part of the A-7 corridor linking Elche and Crevillent ranks among the top ten routes in the country for traffic danger. The study highlights a high death toll on Spain’s roads during summer travel and other major holiday periods. The findings come from the Go and Return report, part of the Vacation Trips in Spain study (2012-2021), produced by the Direct Line Foundation with data from the General Directorate of Traffic and more than 1,700 survey responses.
The provinces most affected include Tarragona (18 fatalities), followed by Burgos (7) and Girona (7). The Alicante region, meanwhile, ranks fourth, recording four fatalities on the 517- to 530-kilometer stretch of the A-7, with seven deaths and eleven injuries overall.
The Direct Line Foundation warns that summer is the most dangerous time to drive. Deaths during holiday trips rise due to higher traffic density, which increased by 22 percent between 2012 and 2021. On peak travel days, the daily fatality rate climbs to about five lives lost, a rate 20.5 percent higher than during non-holiday periods.
Traffic jam
In the report, long-distance journeys are identified as particularly critical for road safety because they concentrate traffic volume. The analysis centers on summer holidays, Easter, the Constitution Bridge, and Christmas, and explains that the report’s publication was driven by the need to address what the researchers describe as especially troubling numbers during the most demanding travel times.
Garre, the foundation’s general manager, emphasizes the need for heightened caution on summer trips, noting that the daily death rate is 20.5 percent higher than in non-holiday periods.
Over the past decade, the study records 165,000 accident victims on long summer trips, 3,300 deaths, and 234,000 injuries.
Among the worst travel times, a single day stands out with the highest fatality rate, followed by the Constitution Public Holiday (4.92), Christmas (4.6), and Easter Week (4.35), all higher than typical non-holiday periods.
The most common summer accident type involves off-road crashes on conventional roads, often when drivers are near their destination. Frontal collisions, rollovers, crashes into obstacles, and nighttime incidents are more frequent during this season. The crash profile points to riskier behavior and challenging driving conditions as major contributors.
reasons
Summer holiday risks are linked to fatigue, speeding, and poorer vehicle control, compounded by heat. Temperature spikes above 30ºC can worsen driving performance, and this combination may contribute to a higher accident risk, as detailed in the report. Increased distractibility and the way loads are carried in vehicles are also flagged as rising risk factors, particularly when loads are poorly secured or excessive.
Regional patterns show Catalonia, Andalusia, the Valencian Community, and Castilla y León as more prone to critical episodes, while Extremadura, Navarra, and Murcia appear less affected. On average, each autonomous community experiences about seven critical incidents, highlighting regional disparities in road safety challenges.
Garre notes that the surveys reveal ongoing gaps in driver habits. Despite widespread awareness, many journeys still show unsafe practices, with a substantial share of travelers pressing on toward fatigue and ignoring recommended safety steps. The report notes that 61 percent of respondents do not follow other recommendations and push fatigue to the limit on what is described as an especially dangerous leg of the trip.
Additionally, 56 percent say they did not plan their route properly, 54 percent admit to exceeding speed limits on holiday trips, 23 percent report consuming alcohol during these journeys, and 82 percent are unsure how to correctly place loads in their vehicles. In short, drivers’ concerns center on imprudence, distraction, timing, road conditions, and scheduling throughout the summer travel period.