04-07-2025
Road where Diogo Jota died ‘very dangerous' and full of potholes
The Spanish highway on which Diogo Jota died was fraught with hazards and the subject of scores of complaints by local residents.
The stretch of A-52 motorway, where the Liverpool striker's Lamborghini careered off the road after blowing a tyre, generated more than 40 complaints over its poor condition in just one month last year.
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Potholes were reportedly worse on a section of road only miles from the crash site.
The Spanish ministry of transport, which is responsible for maintaining the road, launched urgent roadworks after receiving a string of complaints about its condition, according to the local newspaper La Opinion de Zamora.
One motorist told the authorities that 'material damage' had been caused by accidents involving a vehicle carrying a Spanish family, about three miles from the site of Jota's fatal crash on Thursday.
Wild deer are also known to roam freely near the motorway. Two of the animals were spotted standing on a side road about half a mile away from the crash site last night.
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Spanish police are continuing their investigations into the cause of the death of Jota, 28, and his brother, André Silva, 25.
The brothers were driving the hired £210,000 Lamborghini Huracan on route to the northern Spanish port of Santander, when they crashed in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Their progress would have been slowed by at least ten miles of roadworks on the A-52, with sections of the highway coned off to a single lane.
The crash happened in the tiny municipality of Cernadilla, which is home to only about 100 people.
A town hall official told local press on Thursday: 'The news here has hit us like a ton of bricks. It seems that in the small municipalities tragedies like these always have to happen.'
He also described the A-52 highway as 'very dangerous'. Town hall sources said: 'As it passes through Cernadilla it is full of bends. Exceeding the speed limit or poor visibility at night are often the cause of accidents in these areas.
'Today it was two famous footballers, who had a great career ahead of them, but perhaps tomorrow the victims will be two more anonymous people.'
