Mataró was at the centre of traffic disruption on Thursday morning after a teachers’ strike in Vallès and Maresme affected major roads across the area, according to Trànsit. The main problems were on the C-32 motorway, before traffic flow returned to normal at around 10:45am.
At about 10:30am, the C-32 was reopened in Mataró towards the south and in Cabrera de Mar towards the north. The C-60 link with the C-32 in Argentona, towards Mataró, also reopened. Trànsit said this was the route most affected by the demonstrations.
Earlier, the C-32 had been closed in Mataró towards Barcelona and in Cabrera de Mar towards Palafolls from 8am. Delays were also recorded from Arenys de Mar heading south and from Vilassar de Dalt heading north. Traffic was diverted via exit 95 northbound and exit 103 southbound, creating a five-kilometre queue on the C-60 near Argentona, which has since cleared.
The disruption came after the sixth meeting between unions and the Department of Education failed to produce an agreement to end the strike on Wednesday. It was the fourth day of strikes across Catalan schools. The Catalan government told teacher representatives it needed more time to assess the economic proposal and asked for further talks on Thursday.
According to Ustec, the meeting had originally been set for 12pm but was moved to 3pm. For Thursday’s actions, unions called teachers to gather at 8am at the Decathlon in Mataró. They also organised a bicycle ride from Terrassa, Sabadell, Barberà del Vallès and Sant Cugat towards Cerdanyola del Vallès.
The ride was due to end at the Faculty of Education at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), where participants planned a paella lunch and to collect donations for a strike fund. For more Catalonia education coverage, see our news tag.