Road authorities in France and Spain are warning of severe congestion as the first major summer-holiday getaway begins on Friday, 4 July. France’s traffic agency Bison Futé has classified Friday as red for Île-de-France and Saturday as red nationwide, advising motorists to avoid travelling on 5 July when bottlenecks are expected on routes to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Normandy coasts, as well as along the Rhône Valley corridor. Compounding the disruption in France, the Direction interdépartementale des routes Méditerranée will close the key Marseille stretch of the A7 motorway between Gare Saint-Charles and Les Pennes-Mirabeau from 23:55 on 4 July until noon on Sunday, 6 July, to allow bridge demolition works. Roughly 160,000 vehicles a day normally use the section; drivers are being diverted to the A55 and alternative routes, while authorities urge travellers to switch to rail where possible. In Spain, the Dirección General de Tráfico expects about 4.7 million road journeys between 15:00 on Friday and midnight on Sunday in its first “Operación Salida” of the season. The agency forecasts the heaviest traffic on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Sunday evening on routes leaving major cities for coastal destinations. Extra speed controls, reversible lanes, and restrictions on heavy trucks are being deployed to manage the flow.