A new healthcare bus service is set to connect six towns in northern Maresme with Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, known as Can Ruti, in Badalona. The service is expected to start after the summer, according to Silvia Paneque, the Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.
Paneque gave the update to Ana María León, a 77-year-old resident of Arenys de Mar who helped lead the petition for the route, during a visit to the town last Wednesday. León said Paneque was clear that the service would go ahead and suggested it could be running by the end of September.
The planned route will leave from Arenys de Munt and travel along the coast, stopping in Caldes d’Estrac, Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Llavaneres and Mataró Hospital before continuing directly to Can Ruti. The service will not require transfers, and it will also include a stop at Institut Guttmann, which is important for many residents needing rehabilitation care.
The announcement follows months of pressure from residents and local institutions. Last week, Manel Nadal, Secretary for Mobility, said there was a very clear need to improve links between Maresme and Can Ruti, during the presentation of the Generalitat's interurban bus improvement plan in Granollers. He said the connection was included in the planned improvements for 2026.
Nadal said the wider package forms part of a €21.5 million emergency plan to increase bus frequencies and connections. He added that the changes would need several months of work and agreements with local councils and regional bodies, with a timeline of three to five months after the summer period.
Ana María León has been central to the campaign in Arenys de Mar. She said her own experience with cancer, along with the loss of her husband to a liver tumour and two breast operations, pushed her to highlight the difficulty of reaching the reference hospital by public transport. She said journeys could take up to two hours, even though the hospital is about 25 minutes away by car.
The campaign grew from an individual effort into a wider movement backed by the Associació de Veïns de Arenys de Mar, local councils, the Maresme Regional Council and political parties in the Catalan Parliament. León said she collected more than 18,000 signatures, later rising above 30,000, including support from Mataró and through Change.org. For more local coverage, see our news page.