A45

2026 started with rain. With a lot of rain. With so much rain that in the first 40 days of the year The registration tripled the average between 1991 and 2020. Curiously, rainfall was scarce in the Cantabrian Sea but in the south there were days of lots of water and even fear. This also had its consequences on the roads. Consequences that are patched now. Lots of water. As we said, the year started in Spain with torrential rains. At the end of January, when it had already rained well, we were preparing for a succession of storms which was going to occupy us a good part of February. And so it was. The problem, in fact, was not that it rained. The problem is that it rained. On very wet ground. The problem beyond the rains is that the soil could not drain as much water. The situation was especially delicate in the south. In areas of Andalusia, towns were evacuated for fear that water will literally gush out of the ground. All of this had its consequences on the roads. Dips, potholes and cars in the ditch. With such an amount of water on the ground, the damage to the asphalt was almost expected. We saw videos on social networks in which a string of stopped cars was shown for being victims of sinkholes. And others in which it was pointed out that a gas station kept receiving tow trucks to rescue those who were left stranded there. We said that it was almost predictable because, whether or not there is an investment deficit on our roads, our asphalts are not prepared to withstand so many days of intense rain. The bitumens used and the porosity of the asphalt It is designed for drier and warmer climates and consequently it withstands heat better but is more fragile. On the contrary, in humid climates bitumen is more malleable but the road can even melt if the heat is extreme. Until now. Once the damage to the asphalt was done, it remained to be known how long it would take the State to act to reverse the damage caused. The truth is that those days of February were complicated on the roads and interventions had to be recorded to, for example, solve landslides. But once this crisis was overcome, it was not until now in the month of June that the expenditure of 20.8 million euros was approved to repair the pavement of the A-7 and A-45 as they pass through Malaga. The interventions will extend over 156,087 kilometers, according to the Ministry of Transport. Some progress. In the note published to explain the interventions, Transport points out that interventions of this type have already been carried out in Estepona, Málaga, Nerja, Vélez-Málaga, Marbella, Casabermeja, Rincón de la Victoria and Antequera. If the schedule is met, it will not be until September when the works will be completed, “although this period may be conditioned by the evolution of the work and weather conditions,” the Ministry emphasizes. As for the works themselves, the actions will focus on milling the pavement in poor condition, replacing the wearing layers with new hot bituminous mixes, replacing the horizontal signage and rehabilitating the service roads and adjacent branches. Photo | Ministry of Transport In Xataka | We knew that we drove badly in the rain, but science has studied to what extent it alters something crucial: metastability