Some observations on Basque transport (could be Spain-wide, could be Basque-wide, could be one-offs)
Main roads
» A lot of Basque main roads carve through a hilly landscape at great height, the concrete viaducts arguably despoiling the landscape but far better than wending at ground level.
» This can mean a lot of tunnels through hillsides. Most Basque tunnels are of a similar design (twin-bore half-cylinders with a concrete shell). Each has a sign at the start saying how long it is (could be 106m, could be 3377m).
» All main roads have posts every kilometre stating which road it is and how many km along you are.
» Motorway junctions aren't numbered consecutively, instead matching the number of kilometres along the road. Thus exit 379 might be followed 6km later by exit 385. This also makes it easier to calculate the length of a journey, e.g. junction 12 (San Sebastián) to junction 115 (Bilbao) is 103km.
» Speed limits change a lot, often in steps of 20km/h, especially on the edge of town or approaching junctions. You might thus pass signs saying (80) then (60) then (40) to encourage slowing down.
» Some sections of road have permanent signs suggesting lower speed limits during wet weather, e.g. normally (120) but 🌧️(100).
» About 30% of Spanish motorways are toll roads, but annoyingly a much higher percentage in the Basque Country.
» Some tolls are a set amount, others variable (you pick up a ticket on entering the tolled section and pay on exit depending on how far you've travelled).
» Tolls can be petty (1.20€) or expensive (we got charged over 16€ for going partway from Vitoria to San Sebastián)
» There's always a (slower) untolled alternative.
Airports
» Bilbao is by far the busiest airport. Its millennial terminal was designed by Santiago Calatrava. We flew in.
» San Sebastián's sleepy airport is 10 miles east of the city, a few metres from the French border. We flew out.
» Vitoria's airport deals mostly with cargo traffic.
Urban centres
» The pedestrian countdown includes a green phase so you know how long you've got left to cross but also a red phase so you know how long until you can cross.
» At some crossings the animated green man speeds up his running during the last 5 seconds. Cute.
» Delivery bikes/mopeds/scooters exist but are not common.
» All three major Basque cities have trams. Leeds looks on enviously.
» More about the coastal cities next week.
Rail
» Trains are infrequent, indirect and generally inconvenient. Between the major cities express buses are by far the better option.
» There's no direct rail connection from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Bilbao. With a change of trains the journey can take hours.
» The direct rail connection from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastián is cheap but slow (2 hours) and there are less than ten services a day.
» Bilbao to San Sebastián is only 50 miles but the hourly trains take 2 hours 40 minutes because there are 37 stops.
» An expressrail service between the three cities is planned (the Basque 'Y') but is implausibly far from completion.
» It's a miracle the local economy copes when a few meandering fast roads are the only feasible means of communication.
