PSOE accuses Madrid mayor of breaking his word over 43-day A-5 closure

On 4 November, Borja Carabante, the city's delegate for Urbanism, Environment and Mobility, announced the 43-day closure of the A-5 to M-30 connection. The work completes the final joining of the two tunnels. The date of 23 December for opening the sunken section was announced by Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida at a breakfast briefing organised by Europa Press.

To limit disruption, the city has presented a special mobility plan. EMT bus lines will get reinforcements of up to 25 percent on certain routes, the full available fleet will stay on Metro lines 3 and 10, and extra interurban buses and Cercanías services may be added. Surface traffic on the A-5 works section will keep two lanes in each direction, and drivers are advised to use the M-40, A-42 and A-6 as alternative routes.

The Socialist Party (PSOE) criticised the timing. Councillor Ignacio Benito said the closure was set for the worst moment of the year, just before Christmas, when the city has the heaviest congestion, and that traffic effects would have been much smaller in the summer months. He accused the mayor of breaking a promise not to close the A-5.

“Madrid has a mayor who does not respect even his own word.”

Benito also attributed the decision to electoral interests.