Presentation of the 2016 IRU Awards

The 2016 Honorary IRU Diplomas were presented to nine drivers on 12 June. These awards are presented by the International Road Transport Union (IRU) to recognise the best national and international road drivers, whether passenger or goods transport, who have honoured the profession through service and moral qualities.

The following conditions must be met to receive such an award:

– To have practised the profession of driver to the complete satisfaction of their company non-stop for at least 20 years.

– To have been with their most recent company for at least five years and to have driven at least 1,000,000 kilometres in national or international traffic.

– To not have caused any serious road traffic accidents (with physical injuries) in the last 20 years.

– To not have seriously broken any customs, administrative or traffic regulations in the last five years.

The recipients this year were:

Sarfa: Isidoro Sanchez, Juan Ramón Santos, Pablo Nieto, Rafael Segura, Santiago Pérez and Víctor Esteves

Sarbus: Francisco Javier Mazuque, José Benavides and Jesús Mª García (2014)

Our congratulations to all of them

2017 Catalan Mobility Conference

The Catalan Mobility Conference took place on 7 June and was attended by some 350 people at the Els Costals Auditorium in Castellbisbal to hear the Councillor for Regional Affairs and Sustainability of the Regional Government of Catalonia, Josep Rull, among others. This was the 13th such conference and was organised, as it is every year, by the AMTU to examine the role played by council authorities in mobility and improving it.

Under the title of ‘The Future of Public Transport in Catalonia’, Councillor Rull gave the conference’s opening address, speaking about the need for mobility to respect the environment, among other things. According to Josep Rull, “we have a very important problem with air pollution and climate change” at the moment and public transport forms part of the solution to these two problems.

The councillor’s speech came just after the opening talks, which were led by the AMTU Chairman, Jordi Xena, and the Mayor of Castellbisbal, Joan Playà.

Moventis was represented by a sizeable delegation led by Josep Maria Martí (Managing Director) and Joan Giménez (General Manager).

To tackle the effects of air pollution and reduce them, the AMTU Chairman encouraged everyone attending to take part in a new session of the Catalan Mobility Conference that will also take place in Castellbisbal, in October.

Aleix Espargaró and Sam Lowes at Motospazio

On Thursday 8 June 2017, and coinciding with the Moto GP held at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit in Montmeló, the top category riders Aleix Espargaró and Sam Lowes from the Aprilia Racing team paid a flying visit to Motospazio. The young riders from the top category, Moto GP, were signing autographs at Calle Calvet 49 in Barcelona from 18:30 to 19:00. Visitors were able to take part in a prize draw to win two tickets to see the Moto GP at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit that was held on the following weekend, from 9 to 11 June. Aleix Espargaró was the man responsible for randomly picking a winner from the draw.

Furthermore, all visitors took home a free poster and were given the chance to buy an Aprilia cap for only € 7.

The whole event took place in a vibrant atmosphere surrounded by genuine competition motorbikes, such as the Aprilia Tuono 125, the RS 125 and the spectacular RSV4.

Aleix Espargaró is one of the Catalan Moto GP riders who returned to the top category in the world motorcycling championship in 2012 and won the championship in the CRT category that very same year. This season, he is competing with one of the brands represented by Motospazio, Aprilia. According to statements made during an interview with the sports newspaper Marca, the rider said that this change had let him be himself again on the track.

Sam Lowes, a British rider who joined the same motorcycle racing category in the same year, won the Supersport World Championship in 2013.

Historic Moventis buses take part in film about the Olympic Games

This week, the historic Moventis buses became luxury supporting actors in the film being made in Barcelona about the period in history surrounding the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games entitled “Amics per sempre” [Friends Forever]. 

The three buses got dressed up for the occasion, as did the drivers who drove them to the set, who were dressed in period clothing as extras. The filming was long and intense but the result will undoubtedly be worthy of the highest praise. We would like to thank the drivers who volunteered to take part in this adventure and all members of the team at the Vallès de Automoción garage and Transportes Ciutat Condal who look after our historic buses so well. We will be looking out for the release of this film to see them in action!