C-31 or Eix Costaner is one of
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
's primary
highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
s. It is the result of merging several sections of previously existing
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
s, ''
autopistas'' and ''
autovías'' after the 2004's renaming of primary highways managed by the
Generalitat de Catalunya. According to this new denomination, the first number (C-31) indicates that is a southwest-northeast highway (parallel to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
coastline), while the second number (C-31) indicates that is the closest to the Mediterranean Sea.
Southern section (El Vendrell-South Barcelona)
The C-31's southern section has two clearly distinguished subsections:
The first corresponds to the former C-246 road, also known as Costes del Garraf. It starts at the intersection with the
N-340 at
El Vendrell and runs parallel to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
coastline passing through several coastal towns such as
Calafell,
Cubelles (
Charlie Rivel's birth town),
Vilanova i la Geltrú and
Sitges, and across the
Garraf Massif coast it finishes at
Castelldefels.
The second subsection corresponds to the former C-246 ''autovía'', also known as Autovia de Castelldefels.
It connects Castelldefels with
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
's
Gran Via and
Plaça d'Espanya passing close to major cities such as
El Prat de Llobregat and
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and to the
Barcelona International Airport.
North Barcelona section (North Barcelona-Montgat)
This C-31's section corresponds to a part of the former A-19 ''autopista'', also known as Autopista del Maresme, which was the first ''autopista'' ever in Spain (1969). It starts at Barcelona's
Plaça de les Glòries and runs parallel to the coastline passing through the city of
Badalona and finishing at the intersection with the
B-20 and the
C-32, at
Montgat.
This highway section should continue over the actual
N-II, at the ''comarca'' of
Maresme
Maresme () is a ''comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west).
It ...
, but since this road is managed by the Spanish government, it has not been renamed yet.
Costa Brava's section (Santa Cristina d'Aro-Figueres)
This section corresponds to the former C-253 and C-252 roads. It starts at the end of the
Autovia C-65
Autovia was a short lived brand of British car from Coventry existing from 1935 to 1938 with production starting in January 1937.''The Times'', Wednesday, 22 September 1937; pg. 6; Issue 47796 The venture was ambitious and even included setti ...
, at
Santa Cristina d'Aro and runs parallel to the coastal line (''
Costa Brava'') passing or by-passing the towns of
Castell-Platja d'Aro
Castell d'Aro, Platja d'Aro i S'Agaró is a municipality in the middle of the Costa Brava in Catalonia, Spain. It is formed from two parts: Castell d'Aro is an ancient village built around a medieval castle and a fortified church, 3 km (2 mil ...
,
Palamós,
Palafrugell,
Pals,
Torroella de Montgrí,
Verges and
Viladamat
Viladamat is a village of Alt Empordà
Alt Empordà (, "Upper Empordà") is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain, one of two into which Empordà
Emporda (from the official name in ca, Empordà, , name in es, Ampurdán, ) is a natu ...
before ending at
Figueres.
See also
*
C-32 highway (Spain)
References
External links
New codification for primary highways managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan)
New codification for primary highways managed by the Generalitat de Catalunya (in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:C-31 Highway (Spain)
Motorways in Catalonia