Spain has a diverse and competitive transport and telecommunications infrastructure, some of which are State-owned. Others belong to the private sector, as is the case of roads, the majority of which are attached to the various public administrations, while motorways are generally in private hands.
Roads
All population centres can be reached by car, even by small or difficult roads, whatever your route is. This network is structured in a very hierarchical way.
The fastest roads are the highways and motorways, which allow the highest speeds. They are well asphalted, and do not go through any towns; they have more than two lanes in each direction and are separated from the lanes going in the opposite direction. They connect the cities with the largest populations. Some motorways may have tolls.
National roads are also well asphalted and allow slower speeds. Although it is avoided, they may go through a town. They have one or two lanes in each direction, but are not separated. These are the roads that connect all towns.
There are also secondary roads, which allow a much slower speed. They are very narrow and do not have a hard shoulder. To these must be added urban roads, which are usually well asphalted.
Airports
Almost one-third of international travellers enter Spain by air. Over 50 million passengers per year pass through Spanish airports. Spain’s strategic geographic situation and its attraction to tourists explain the importance of this type of traffic.
All the important cities have an airport. The most important is Barajas in Madrid, followed by Barcelona. These are connected by a shuttle service that carries over two and a half million passengers per year. Flights to the Balearic and Canary Islands are also very significant because of the density of traffic.
Bus, Tram, Metro
The most important cities have very efficient underground transport networks (metro) that operate for 20 hours consecutively, normally from
06:00 to 01:30. There are extensive bus routes that cover all cities, with bus stations for international journeys, long distances and short distances between towns.
Taxi
Taxi services are the most comfortable but also the most costly means of transport.
Train
Rail transport in Spain is also a very popular means of transport that provides different services and covers the whole national territory. There is a local train network, regional trains that cover a great number of destinations and a high-speed line (AVE) that serves the routes Madrid-Seville and Madrid-Lerida.
Other high-speed routes are currently under construction: Lerida-Barcelona, Cordoba-Malaga, Madrid-Valladolid and Madrid-Autonomous Community of Valencia.
Sea and Ports
Spanish seaports are highly specialised. The most active, best-equipped docks are in the tourist areas. The one with the largest volume of passengers is that of Tarifa, followed by those of Mallorca, Valencia, Barcelona and Tenerife.
The port of Vigo is specialised in fish. The ports of Barcelona, Bilbao, La Coruña and Gijón are specialised in industry. There are also many sporting and recreational ports, in addition to small fishing jetties in maritime towns.
Text last edited on:06/2005
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2005
Reproduction is authorised.
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