Companies in the sector announce that there could be delays or no service at all for broken-down or crashed vehicles, and are warning drivers travelling through the area over these days.
The National Roadside Assistance Alliance has drawn attention to a situation that could be repeated across Spain next autumn. Companies in the Lérida Pyrenees stated this week that, given the precarious state of the activity, assistance services in the area could be brought to a halt, as several media outlets have reported, on 13, 14 and 15 August, coinciding with the holiday getaway (Operación Salida) for the second half of August, which also includes the long weekend of Monday 15th, a national holiday.
The precarious financial compensation offered by most insurers, motoring clubs and travel assistance platforms, as well as the impossibility of hiring operators, threatens assistance services.
Companies in the Lleida Pyrenees have stated that they cannot bear the cost of keeping a team of operators on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since the prices being paid do not cover these staff costs.
Unsustainable rates
As the National Roadside Assistance Alliance has been warning since it was formed last June, the rates that insurers, motoring clubs and roadside assistance companies pay their tow-truck suppliers have not been adapted in the slightest to the legal requirements for covering operating costs, nor to the increase in fuel prices, which has been relentless since the start of the year. Added to this is the impossibility for tow-truck companies of hiring drivers to cover on-call shifts and provide reinforcements on days with peaks in work, given the economic cost and the losses this entails.
It so happens that the Pyrenees is a mountainous, depopulated area that is difficult to travel through, where assistance times tend to be long and are not paid. So much so that some of these companies are considering closing down because they are not viable, which would complicate the service in the area, since there are not many companies providing it either. It might even become necessary to call on tow trucks from the provincial capital, or from the province of Barcelona.
The tow-truck companies serving the Lleida Pyrenees have apologised in advance to drivers for any inconvenience that may be caused, and hope that the precarious situation they are in will be understood. It should be borne in mind that journeys will multiply over these days.
National Roadside Assistance Alliance: "There has been no effective response"
Xavier Martí, spokesperson for the National Roadside Assistance Alliance, stated that this situation has arisen because of the lack of an "effective response" from insurers, motoring clubs and travel assistance platforms. "The sector's demands to bring assistance contracts into line with current law, so that, at the very least, they cover the cost and expenses involved in maintaining a 24h/365-day service, have not been resolved".
Martí said that, despite this, an effort will be made to handle the jobs commissioned by insurers that have implemented the companies' demands. There could, however, be some delays. Cases where road safety is at risk, or which arise at the request of traffic officers, will also be attended to. Especially those involving personal injury.
For yet another week, the tow-truck sector is calling for "immediate attention to these problems, since what is happening this summer in the Pyrenees may well be replicated more generally, beyond this long weekend, in other areas of Spain", Martí indicated.
It is worth remembering that the first round of meetings between the Assistance Alliance and Spain's leading insurers, motoring clubs and travel assistance platforms ended on 31 July. Tow-truck business owners have invited the other side to a second round of negotiations next September. Once this phase is over, the relevant assemblies will be held to decide what action to take, which could range from complaints to various bodies and courts to stoppages in the activity.
The National Roadside Assistance Alliance is made up of the following regional and national associations and business organisations: ABEAC (Balearic Islands), ABEAC (Basque Country), ASCA (Catalonia), AMEAC (Madrid), ANESAV (National), ASCALEAC, (Castile and León), ASEDA (Andalusia), ASEGA (Galicia), AGRUAXA (Salamanca), ASEXTEAC (Extremadura), GRUPO CARTER (National), CEPAS (National), FEGRUAL (National Federation) AGREGA-GRÚAS and REAC (National Group).