Dangerous Roads: Spain

The AP9 and AP7 are two of the most dangerous roads in Spain. We spent months filming here, capturing everything from drunk drivers and out of control lorries to disintegrating caravans and the foggy microclimate that causes deadly pileups.

Albert and Jorge are on the track of a driver who ran through a police checkpoint and almost ran over a policeman. Shortly after, alongside the road they find a man so drunk he seems virtually comatose but he denies being the driver of the car found just a hundred metres away. They quickly establish that he is pretending to be comatose to avoid questioning and that the car is his.

The AP7 serves the largest ports in Spain, like Barcelona and Valencia, facilitating trade between the peninsula and the rest of the world. It’s the busiest motorway in Europe for heavy goods vehicles but in 2021 lorries were involved in 10% of all mortal road accidents. Today, the police have set up a checkpoint. One of the lorries they stop is 5,000 kg over the legal weight limit. A simple gust of wind could cause it to lose its balance.

The local microclimate also causes serious accidents every year. Fog regularly covers an area of 100 km, causing monster pileups, like the one in 2014 involving 30 vehicles. Today, Hector tries to console a man who lost control driving in the fog. His wife was injured and his children were also in the car.