Pilar bridge: Spain restricts heavy goods vehicles from 8 to 12 October, with a direct cut at the Portuguese border

The Pilar bridge is the first major period of heavy-vehicle restrictions in Spain since summer, and runs for five days: from Thursday 8 October to Monday 12 October — National Day, a public holiday that triggers the DGT’s general ban nationwide. Anyone planning to cross Spain during these days, in either direction, needs to account for several closure windows, not just one.

Day by day, per the DGT

• 8/10 (Thursday): A-3 Valencia–Requena, only on the Valencia exit, 3pm–9pm.
• 9/10 (Friday), 4pm–10pm: Madrid exits via the A-1, A-2, A-3 (both directions), A-4, A-5 (both directions), A-6/AP-6 up to Tordesillas, radial roads R-2 to R-5, N-6 and M-501. Also the A-62 between Cabezón de Pisuerga and Tordesillas, towards the Portuguese border, 3pm–11pm; A-3 Utiel–Valencia, 1pm–10pm; A-8 Castro-Urdiales–Laredo, 5pm–9pm; N-230 Benabarre–Aneto, towards France, 5pm–midnight.
• 10/10 (Saturday): the same Madrid exits, now between 8am and 1pm/3pm; the A-62 towards Portugal closes again, 8am–3pm; A-8, 10am–3pm.
• 12/10 (Monday, National Day), 4pm–10pm/midnight: entries into Madrid via the A-1 to A-6, AP-6, AP-51, AP-61, N-6, N-110, N-603 and M-501; A-62 Tordesillas–Valladolid towards Burgos, 3pm–11pm; A-1/AP-1/N-1 Burgos–Vitoria, 4pm–9pm; A-8 towards Bilbao, 4pm–9pm; A-3 Valencia, 9am–9pm on the exit and 1pm–9pm on the entry; N-230 towards Benabarre, 1pm–8pm.
• Dangerous goods: extra restriction on 9/10 only in the Comunitat Valenciana; on 11/10 (8am–3pm) and 12/10 (8am–midnight) nationwide.

There is no general restriction on 11/10 (Sunday) besides dangerous goods — the one day in the period without a cut for general freight.

Catalonia adds another calendar

The Servei Català de Trànsit applies its own restrictions, which don’t match the DGT’s:

• AP-7, Maçanet–L’Hospitalet de l’Infant (km 84.5–281), general freight, both directions: 9/10 5pm–10pm, 10/10 10am–2pm, and 12/10 5pm–10pm.
• N-230 and C-28 (Vall d’Aran): towards France, 9/10 5pm–midnight; towards Lleida, 12/10 1pm–8pm.
• Outside these windows, the year-round Catalan restrictions still apply: the AP-7 on the same stretch only for euro-combinations at weekends, and the N-II, N-240 and N-340 closed 24 hours to vehicles over 26 t.

One more day off, but only regional

Friday 9 October is a public holiday in the Comunitat Valenciana (Day of the Comunitat Valenciana) — but it’s regional, and doesn’t trigger the DGT’s nationwide ban outside the region. It creates a long weekend, so expect more leisure traffic on the Valencia-Castellón-Alicante axis that day, with no extra cut for freight.

What changes for hauliers crossing Spain and Portugal

The point that directly affects the Spain-Portugal route is the A-62 between Cabezón de Pisuerga and Tordesillas, towards the Portuguese border: it closes to heavy goods vehicles on Friday 9/10 (3pm-11pm) and Saturday 10/10 (8am-3pm). Anyone heading from Castile and León to the border should plan departure outside these windows, or expect a diversion via secondary roads.

For hauliers crossing Catalonia towards France via the N-230/C-28 (Vall d’Aran), the closure window is 9/10, 5pm to midnight, towards France — matching the usual departure time for overnight drivers.

See the full calendar, with exceptions and roads by region, at Spain — Condutores Profissionais.