The Somport border road in the Pyrenees will reopen earlier than expected

At the beginning of September, torrential rains fell on the Aspe valley: torrents of water and mud destroyed 25 houses, numerous vehicles and part of the RN134, the road leading from Pau to Spain via the Somport tunnel.

The work to fill the breach and reinforce the embankments, which began in October, is now almost complete and will allow the reopening, initially planned for January, to be brought forward to Friday, December 20, "if no major climatic hazard" occurs between now and then, the prefecture specifies.

Once the road is finished and the signage laid out, cars and heavy goods vehicles will once again be able to use the Col du Somport and its eponymous tunnel.

Every day, between 400 and 500 trucks and around 800 light vehicles travel on this so-called "central" Pyrenean route, an alternative to the major crossings of Biriatou, on the Atlantic side, and Le Perthus, on the Mediterranean side.

On the Spanish side, the elected representatives of the Autonomous Community of Aragon and the Provincial Council of Huesca, the first neighbours, had asked France to "do everything possible" to reopen the road "as soon as possible".