Weekend of 3-4 October: Germany bans lorries for two days, Spain only restricts dangerous goods

This weekend (Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October) there is no slack for anyone planning the Germany-Austria-Italy corridor: Germany has two consecutive days of full ban, because Saturday is a national holiday, and Italy is already on its October Sunday hours (9am-10pm). The other usual bans — France, Austria, Switzerland — are unchanged.

This summary corrects the one published on 18 September for the same weekend, which listed Saturday as free in Germany, showed no ban in Hungary and put Slovakia’s ban from 6am. The details below come from each country’s official sources and the October tables from the DGT and Catalonia.

🔴 Germany — two full days closed

3 October is Tag der Deutschen Einheit (German Unity Day), a national holiday, and this year it falls on a Saturday. The holiday ban (midnight-10pm) covers all of Saturday, followed by the normal Sunday ban (midnight-10pm): in practice 44 hours of almost continuous ban, with only two free hours on Saturday night (10pm-midnight). More in Germany.

🔴 France — Saturday 10pm to Sunday 10pm

No holiday this weekend, so the general ban applies: from 10pm on Saturday to 10pm on Sunday, across the whole network, for goods vehicles over 7.5 t. Drivers coming up from Spain on the A63 or A9 need to cross the border in time to be in France before 10pm on Saturday. More in France.

🟠 Italy — Sunday 9am to 10pm

Italy left its summer period on 1 October: under decree 325/2025, Sundays from January to May and from October to December are banned from 9am to 10pm, two hours shorter than in September (7am-10pm). No Saturday ban. More in Italy.

🔴 Austria — Saturday 3pm to Sunday 10pm

Unchanged: Saturday from 3pm to midnight and Sunday from midnight to 10pm, almost 31 hours in a row. Add the night ban (10pm-5am) on designated roads on the Brenner and Inn axis and Tyrol’s sectoral bans on the A12. More in Austria.

🟡 Switzerland — all of Sunday, from 3.5 t

No federal holiday this weekend, just the usual rule: all of Sunday and a night ban every day (10pm-5am), from 3.5 tonnes. More in Switzerland.

🟡 Hungary — Saturday 10pm to Sunday 10pm

Outside the summer calendar, Hungary works like France: from 10pm on Saturday to 10pm on Sunday, for goods vehicles over 7.5 t. More in Hungary.

🟡 Czechia and Slovakia

In Czechia, only Sunday afternoon: 1pm-10pm outside summer. In Slovakia, all of Sunday, midnight to 10pm, for vehicles over 7.5 t (or over 3.5 t with a trailer), with no Saturday ban outside summer, according to Nakordoni’s summary for Slovakia.

🟢 Spain — no ban on lorries in general, only dangerous goods and abnormal loads

According to the October table from the DGT, there is no restriction on goods vehicles in general on DGT roads this weekend. Only on Sunday 4/10, from 8am to midnight in every region, dangerous goods and vehicles needing a supplementary movement authorisation must stop.

In Catalonia, the Servei Català de Trànsit keeps its year-round restrictions:

• AP-7, Maçanet–L’Hospitalet de l’Infant (km 84.5–281), euro-modular combinations only: Saturday 10am-2pm and Sunday 5pm-10pm, both directions.
• N-II, Montgat–Can Bartolí (km 630–682): goods in general, Saturday 10am-2pm and Sunday 5pm-10pm.
• N-II La Jonquera–Fornells de la Selva, N-240 Lleida–Montblanc and two sections of the N-340: closed every day, 24 hours, to vehicles or combinations over 26 t.
• Dangerous goods and abnormal loads: Sunday 8am-midnight on the whole network.

Watch next week: Pilar bank holiday (8 to 12/10)

The DGT has lorry restrictions from Thursday 8/10 to Monday 12/10 (National Day). The A-62 between Cabezón de Pisuerga and Tordesillas, towards the Portuguese border, is closed to lorries on Friday 9/10 from 3pm to 11pm and on Saturday 10/10 from 8am to 3pm. In Catalonia, the AP-7 is closed to goods in general on 9/10 (5pm-10pm), 10/10 (10am-2pm) and 12/10 (5pm-10pm).

🟢 No general weekend ban

Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands have no general weekend ban; in the last two the issue is urban low-emission zones. Poland only has a weekend regime in summer (June-August). In Romania there is no general Sunday ban, but the DN1 between Bucharest and Brasov is closed to lorries at weekends all year.

Advice for hauliers leaving Portugal or Spain

1. To Germany: closed to lorries from midnight Saturday to 10pm Sunday, with only two free hours in between. Either enter by Friday night or wait until Sunday night, unless the load is exempt (perishables, live animals, combined transport).
2. To France: cross the border before 10pm on Saturday, or plan the weekly rest on the Spanish side.
3. To Italy via the Brenner: Austria closes at 3pm on Saturday and only reopens at 10pm on Sunday. Anyone not over the Brenner by 3pm on Saturday is stuck until Sunday night.
4. Back to Portugal the following week: expect the A-62 closed to lorries towards the border on Friday 9/10 (3pm-11pm) and Saturday 10/10 (8am-3pm).