For the sixth successive year, motorway operators acesa and aumar are collaborating with the Spanish authorities to smooth the way for the more than 75,000 travellers forecast to cross the Straits of Gibraltar from the Port of Alicante between June and September, some 8% more than last year, according to Spanish Ministry of the Interior figures.

aumar y acesa will be reinforcing all their information systems to improve user safety and the flow of traffic on the AP-7 motorway, the Mediterranean’s strategic corridor.

Signposting and user services

The measures implemented by acesa and aumar include the siting of signs in Arabic and the provision to travellers of maps in French and Arabic with information on the location of medical staff, petrol stations, SOS telephones and service areas. Additionally, at specific service areas along the AP-7 between La Jonquera and Alicante, travellers will have available at team of doctors, nurses and French/Arabic-speaking interpreters.

This year, acesa and aumar have published 25,000 maps in French and Arabic. aumar will distribute 15,000 at the Sagunto (Valencia) and Sant Joan D’Alacant (Alicante) toll stations, and in service areas and petrol stations. acesa will give out the remainder at La Jonquera, given the large number of vehicles coming from Europe and heading to North Africa.

acesa has installed 6 signs in Arabic at the following sites: two signs in Montmeló (Barcelona), at the junction of the AP-7 with the C-33; two more at El Papiol (Barcelona), at the junction of the AP-2 and the AP-7, and two more at the Mediterranean bifurcation (Tarragona), where the AP-2 and the AP-7 come together.

Additionally, the L’Empordà (Girona), La Selva (Girona) and El Penedès (Tarragona) service areas will have an interpreter –from 14 July to 27 August– and a Red Cross information point, which makes available two doctors, two paramedics and a medical assistance vehicle to travellers. In addition to participating in Operation Crossing the Straits, the Red Cross keeps these centres open during the weekend year-round, as well as on peak road use days, especially during the summer holidays.

For its part, aumar has place three signs in Arabic indicating the location of the service areas at La Ribera (Castellón) and La Marina (Alicante), where there are information points with interpreters and medical assistance. Furthermore, the Red Cross has health centres at the La Marina, Sagunto (Valencia) and La Plana (Castellón) service areas.

The motorway operators acesa and aumar belong to the abertis corporation, which directly manages more than 1,500 kilometres of motorway in Spain.