There are problems that no matter how much we talk about them, they remain, perennial, waiting without success for someone to solve them. An example? Areas of Catalonia. Another? The deficit of examiners from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) to cover the demand of those who want to take the practical exam to obtain a driver's license (either car, motorbike, truck or bus). In Barcelona and the province, for example, the waiting time to be examined is between two and three months. "About 48,500 people are waiting", warns Alejandro Requena, member of the Federation of Driving Schools of Barcelona (FAB).
Víctor (22 years old and from Barcelona) can feel lucky. It is below average in waiting time. However, he is dissatisfied. The motorcycle license (A2) is being taken out and the practical has been examined twice, both with negative results. He did the first on October 24. The second, almost a month later: November 16. After that second suspension, he asked for a new date. They have given it for January 9. "For me, from October 24 to November 16 there were already too many days of separation. I would have gone there before, when I still had the feel of the bike. Well, imagine how I am with the new date". He explains that he will have no other option "than to do more practice just before the date of the new exam". He feels wronged. And not only because of the internships he will have to do (and the cost they will entail), but because he understands that he would have had more options to pass if the exams had been much closer in time.
The problem of waiting lists - they explain from the sector - affects all of Spain. But especially Catalonia, and in particular Barcelona (city and province). There are several reasons. To begin with, the lack of examiners. "Since it belongs to the general body of the State, they earn the same in all of Spain, but housing in Barcelona is very expensive. They don't want to come here", argues Fernando Lara, vice-president of the National Association of Driving Schools of Spain (Anaes). "At the same time, the Catalans don't usually prepare for contests for the central state, in any case they do for the Generalitat, where they will surely win more", he adds.
The figures confirm that there is certainly not much demand to become an examiner in Barcelona. This is demonstrated by the places that were left empty in the last competition, the resolution of which was published in the BOE at the end of November. Between Barcelona city and province, 11 places were offered: eight remained unfilled. And this situation - warns Lara - occurs in a context in which the examiners are retiring - and not being replaced - and the examinations "are convened every two years". "There has always been a deficit of examiners and the fault lies with the administration", he says.
Sources from the DGT explain to La Vanguardia that the lack of this professional profile "is specific in some directions of Traffic, not in the whole territory" and that they have managed to get the body "to have temporary examining staff due to the accumulation of tasks and for vacancy". The sector confirms the presence of these temporary workers, but describes the measure as a "patch". It is not "a solution", Requena defends.
He explains that a city like Barcelona would need a minimum of 6,500 tests to be carried out every ten days (tests are held every eight weekdays, but there is always a weekend in between). But this figure is not reached. "We're down to about 5,500. In other words, we have a deficit of 1,000 for each call. And this accumulates, so that the plug gets bigger and bigger".
