The Federation of Driving Schools of Catalonia has demanded immediate solutions from the DGT given the 85,645 students who are still pending to take the driving test in Catalonia, a situation that the sector's employers' association describes as a collapse and that affects the 681 Catalan driving schools.
The president of the FAC, Raül Viladrich, has brought the situation to Congress this Monday and has warned that the problem is not new. He assures that the lack of examiners has been dragging on since 2013 and that, far from being corrected, it has worsened in recent years.
"Let's not ask for improvements, let's demand solutions. The situation is critical" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
A traffic jam that worsens for years
Viladrich recalled that he already appeared in Congress five years ago to explain the same problem. Since then, the FAC maintains that the number of pending students has grown by almost 5,000 people and denounces that the system's response has not been sufficient.
The president of the federation has charged against the inaction of the DGT and has linked to that lack of response the closure of 11% of Catalan driving schools since 2021. In his speech, he has stressed that the centers cannot continue assuming a situation that they consider structural.
"We are angry because we have been dragging this problem, which is not specific but structural, since 2013" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
Barcelona concentrates the largest pool of students
The distribution by demarcations again places the main bottleneck in Barcelona, with 63,000 students awaiting examination. In Girona the figure rises to 7,942. In Tarragona it reaches 7,800 and in Lleida it stands at 4,943 applicants.
- Barcelona registers 63,000 pending students
- Girona adds 7,942
- Tarragona accumulates 7,800
- Lleida reaches 4,943
The FAC maintains that this volume of waiting is compromising the ordinary activity of driving schools and keeps access to the practical exam blocked for thousands of students throughout the territory.
The deficit of examiners remains uncovered
Viladrich has acknowledged the good will of the DGT for having created new examiner positions last year, but has denounced that the actual coverage in Catalonia fell far short of what was foreseen. Of the 44 examiners that, according to the FAC, corresponded to Catalonia, 15 ended up arriving.
"They owe us 29, that is to say, only 34% of what was promised has reached us. That is an outrage" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
The federation estimates at 29 the examiners missing compared to the initial forecast. From there, the sector considers it impossible to absorb the current demand with the available staff.
Viladrich has also focused on a fundamental problem. In his opinion, in Catalonia there is not enough oppositional culture to fill state positions of this profile and many people rule out applying for fear of being assigned elsewhere.
"We do not have a pool of people from the territory who want to take civil service exams for fear that they will be assigned to other communities" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
The federation adds that some of the examiners assigned to Catalonia end up leaving when transfer competitions open, as they come from other communities. That movement, added to the scarcity of new incorporations, maintains the imbalance in the examination headquarters. The FAC insists that the system continues to fail to respond to a situation it defines as critical and structural.