Spanish roads

[Mobilvetta]

Is it me or is the Spanish road network going down hill fast. Just following a route I did back in 2019.and I couldn't believe at the time how smooth and pot hole free there road network was compared to ours. Well in 2024 I now can't believe how many potholes and cracks in the tarmac there are in Spain, I can only assume that they have employed British contractors to repair them or bodge them. Still at least I haven't come across any traffic jams and the French roads were still first class.

 

[El radge]

Is it me or is the Spanish road network going down hill fast. Just following a route I did back in 2019.and I couldn't believe at the time how smooth and pot hole free there road network was compared to ours. Well in 2024 I now can't believe how many potholes and cracks in the tarmac there are in Spain, I can only assume that they have employed British contractors to repair them or bodge them. Still at least I haven't come across any traffic jams and the French roads were still first class.

Think you are bang on . Always rated their roads best in Europe (in my experience)
Not so sure now

 

[jagmanx]

Try Italy (non Toll !!!!!)

 

[GMJ]

Yes we are in Spain and can confirm that to our mind, the roads are getting much worse. I have to keep my wits about me now even on major roads as some of the pot holes are real wheel benders.

 

[Ardachaidh]

Not my experience, but we mainly use autovías/pistas. Although one single carriageway road we used driving to Extremadura was a bit rough in places. We do a lot of cycling on quiet roads and the vast majority are excellent, less traffic, wider, often with hard verges, and much smoother surfaces. A pleasure. Even very minor roads that get very little traffic are superior to ours. Plus they engineer them better too with deep ditches either side to drain water off the surface, unlike ours which have grass verges to keep the water on the road.

 

[El radge]

Not my experience, but we mainly use autovías/pistas. Although one single carriageway road we used driving to Extremadura was a bit rough in places. We do a lot of cycling on quiet roads and the vast majority are excellent, less traffic, wider, often with hard verges, and much smoother surfaces. A pleasure. Even very minor roads that get very little traffic are superior to ours. Plus they engineer them better too with deep ditches either side to drain water off the surface, unlike ours which have grass verges to keep the water on the road.

Think the argument is that their standards have dropped. Possibly less maintenance

 

[witzend]

Think the argument is that their standards have dropped. Possibly less maintenance

And now they've a lot more roads to spend their budget on as they've done away with the toll roads

 

[TeamRienza]

I wonder if they have now stopped getting large amounts of EU money and become a net contributor?

Davy

 

[marchie]

We've been running up and down the AP7 for the last month or so, but switched to the AP2 yesterday to begin the journey home. The road surfaces are not as smooth as the French Autoroutes, but they are mostly toll free; the maintenance is evident with lots of tree trimming, verge cutting and central barrier renovation, just not the road surfaces at present. The latter are still comparable with the lorry ruts on the M6, M40, M25 etc, IMHO

Steve

 

[marchie]

I wonder if they have now stopped getting large amounts of EU money and become a net contributor?

Davy

Roads are a national government competence, which is why the 'thought the EU was supposed to standardise' refrain is wrong.

The Spanish economy recovery continues, but from a low base, post 2008 Financial Crash, and the COVID damage to tourism. The recovery should generate business profits (but there is still ample evidence of the damage to small business visible at High Street level), and increased tax revenue that could be used in the roads budget. Please also see comments on #9 re the Autopista maintenance seen over the last month

Steve

 

[Ardachaidh]

Trouble is these are all anecdotal, including mine. But I’ve yet to encounter 10+ miles of coned off roadworks, or 10 miles of slow moving queuing traffic or the latest wheeze “smart” death traps. I’d much rather drive or cycle on Spanish (or French) roads than those in England.

 

[Mobilvetta]

Trouble is these are all anecdotal, including mine. But I’ve yet to encounter 10+ miles of coned off roadworks, or 10 miles of slow moving queuing traffic or the latest wheeze “smart” death traps. I’d much rather drive or cycle on Spanish (or French) roads than those in England.

It's down to the fact that you UK is well over crowded for the size of the country when you compare it with the size of Spain and France, which has a similar population , hence why you never see traffic jams on two lane motorways, compared to the four lanes we have on the M6.

But I agree for that reason I prefer driving in Spain, it's far more relaxed, one just has to keep an eye on the ruts and potholes now, which I didn't have to do in 2019 when I followed the same route. That was what my original post was about. I also like the fact it has good cycle lanes that are useful to get around, compared to the fortune Blackpool council spent putting cycle lanes in to know where. France I have to say still has fabulous well maintained roads, much more superior to Spain now.

 

[Barge1914]

Try Italy (non Toll !!!!!)

Italy!!! They don’t repair them, they just stick up a 30kph sign and a speed camera.

 

[RichardHelen262]

Try Italy (non Toll !!!!!)

I tried them once many years ago as I had plenty of time to spare, they were more like farm tracks, now I stick to the tolls

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Italy!!! They don’t repair them, they just stick up a 30kph sign and a speed camera.

I was driving my camper out of San Marino and saw a 20kph sign.

I thought that's plain daft and ignored it.

It wasn't, and I braked hard.