The Federation of Driving Schools of Catalonia has demanded immediate solutions from the General Directorate of Traffic for the 85,645 students who are still pending to take the driving license exam in Catalonia. The employers' association places the origin of the problem in the lack of examiners and administrative staff, and warns that the backlog already affects 681 driving schools throughout the territory.
The president of the FAC, Raül Viladrich, conveyed this Monday the complaint in an appearance in Congress, where he described the situation as a "collapse". The entity maintains that the shortage of examiners is not new and that it has been dragging on since 2013, without a sufficient response having been given to reduce waiting lists.
"We do not ask for improvements, we demand solutions. The situation is critical" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
More than 63,000 students pending in Barcelona
The largest pool of exam candidates is concentrated in the Barcelona demarcation, with 63,000 students waiting. In Girona there are 7,942, in Tarragona 7,800 and in Lleida 4,943. Overall, the current figure in Catalonia approaches 86,000 candidates, almost 5,000 more than five years ago.
In the case of Tarragona, the 7,800 pending students reflect the scope of a problem that the federation considers structural. The FAC insists that the backlog not only delays access to the driving license, but also compromises the ordinary activity of driving schools.
Only 15 examiners arrived out of the 44 planned positions
Viladrich recalled that last year the DGT expanded the examiner positions, but Catalonia received only 15 of the 44 planned. 29 positions remained unfilled, a situation that the president of the federation openly censured.
"This is an absurdity" - Raül Viladrich, president of the FAC
The FAC adds that a part of the examiners assigned from other communities ends up leaving Catalonia when a transfer competition is called, which prevents consolidating staff and maintaining a stable capacity to absorb the demand.
11% of driving schools closed since 2021
The employers' association estimates the closure of Catalan driving schools at 11% since 2021 and links that fall to the system's lack of response. The organization understands that the administrative blockage and the insufficiency of examiners are already having a direct impact on the viability of the sector.
With this scenario, the FAC demands urgent action to unblock the pending exams in the four demarcations and stop a deterioration that, in its opinion, affects both students and the entire set of Catalan driving schools.