Chelo and Bilal close the N-340 tunnel at four in the morning

Five past four. Chelo blocks the lane with the sign and Bilal goes in with 44 new tubes on the trolley.

They work by the headlights of the van. The unlit tunnel sounds like dripping and plastic.

At the mouth a white Ibiza is waiting. Inside, a girl in the uniform of the five o'clock shift. She doesn't sound the horn. She winds down the window and watches.

Eleven minutes. Bilal tightens the last tube, the whole tunnel comes on, and Chelo waves her through first.