One of the three lanes on the AP-7 northbound has been reopened this Tuesday morning following a fire involving two trucks that crashed on Monday evening in Santa Margarida i els Monjos, within the Alt Penedès region. Despite the partial reopening, the highway is experiencing significant congestion, with thousands of vehicles using this route to travel to Barcelona from Tarragona and other southern areas.

Queues now exceed 10 kilometers in length, reaching into the province of Tarragona. Road cleaning, heavy vehicle removal, and safety measure repositioning, which began in the early hours, were still ongoing this morning, preventing the full reopening of all three lanes.

The accident occurred around 8:44 PM on Monday at kilometer 200 of the highway when two heavy vehicles collided laterally and caught fire. One truck was carrying tiles, and the other aerosols, the cargo of which caused a large explosion visible from many areas. The fire rapidly spread to both vehicles and the roadside vegetation, initially forcing a complete closure of the AP-7 in both directions.

Traffic towards Tarragona was later reopened, and this Tuesday morning, one lane in the direction of Barcelona was opened. However, traffic jams still extend for seven kilometers northbound. Both drivers were unharmed and attended by the Emergency Medical System (SEM).

The Generalitat Firefighters deployed 15 units to extinguish the flames, a task completed around 3:45 AM. Overnight, material removal and asphalt cleaning operations were also carried out, including clearing the tile cargo scattered on the road. Both trucks have been removed, but the complete removal of merchandise and repair of the fire-damaged road surface are still pending.

As the situation improved, Protecció Civil deactivated the Transcat plan alert for accidents involving dangerous goods.