Barcelona’s streets continue to groan under the weight of traffic, with new municipal data showing that several key intersections are carrying tens of thousands of vehicles each day. According to figures analysed by the ACN news agency, the worst hotspot is the junction of Carrer Aragó and Carrer Bailèn, where an average of 55,306 cars pass daily — rising to nearly 60,000 on weekdays.
Second place goes to Aragó with Muntaner, followed closely by the Gran Via with Pau Claris and the Gran Via with Plaça Universitat, the latter proving particularly congested at weekends. In fact, nine of the ten busiest crossings in the city are located along the Aragó–Gran Via axis. The only exception is Avinguda Diagonal at the Zona Universitària, which registers around 45,000 vehicles each day.
Overall, traffic levels in 2024 fell compared with both 2023 and pre-pandemic 2019 at most monitoring points. Yet some areas still saw increases, notably the Meridiana at Passeig de Santa Coloma, where vehicle numbers jumped by nearly 9%. At the opposite end, Aragón with Padilla experienced the sharpest drop, down 15.6%.
The single busiest road in the metropolitan area remains the Nudo de la Trinitat, a notorious bottleneck where more than 84,000 vehicles funnel through daily — effectively one car every second. Despite a slight decline since 2022, this interchange still tops the charts for congestion.
The findings, released during European Mobility Week, highlight the persistent challenge of managing car use in a city striving to expand pedestrian zones and green corridors while also facing demands for efficiency from daily commuters.
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