Motorcyclists across Bulgaria blocked 26 points on the evening of a national protest against a sharp jump in mandatory Civil Liability insurance for motorcycles, with one of the main demonstrations in central Sofia shutting traffic on Prince Alexander Battenberg Square.

The protest had been announced more than a month earlier, but the prices that triggered it kept climbing in the weeks that followed. Protesters said the increase was unjustified and argued that motorcycle insurance had risen by more than 80 percent without any explanation, even as the official average increase was said to be 10-13 percent.

In Sofia, the scene was part rally and part roadblock. Bikers gathered in the capital as protests spread to Plovdiv, Ruse, Silistra, Stara Zagora and Veliko Tarnovo, while in Montana the E-79 toward the Danube Bridge was blocked and in Burgas the exit from the city in the direction of the Trakia highway was closed. Some of the motorcyclists later rode in a motorcade, underscoring how quickly the protest moved from a warning to a countrywide disruption.

At the heart of the dispute is a simple argument from riders: motorcycles are not used the way cars are used, so annual insurance does not fit the way they are driven. Krasimir Simeonov said it was not possible for Civil Liability to rise twice within a month or two, calling the move unfair and inhumane because motorcycles are usually ridden seasonally. He said the same logic applied to caravans and other seasonal vehicles, adding that insurers seemed eager to change the regime, but that it would not be on their terms.

That complaint became the central pressure point of the protest. Riders demanded that the new prices of Civil Liability for motorcycles be frozen until a full inspection is completed, along with a special regime called Civil Liability of the Motorcyclist and the option for seasonal or installment coverage. Vasilena Popova Radichkova said motorcyclists wanted real and fair laws for all vehicles and rejected what she called a double, drastic increase in Civil Liability.

The day’s biggest gatherings outside Sofia added to the scale of the push. In Varna, hundreds of bikers assembled near the former circus grounds next to Lokomotiv stadium before setting off in three rays along part of the city’s main boulevards, making traffic difficult across the city. In Svilengrad, hundreds of motorists from the Haskovo and Kardzhali regions gathered on the road to Greece, blocked the section of the Maritsa highway between the Novo Selo junction and the Kapitan Petko Voivoda checkpoint, and forced a detour route to be introduced.

In Burgas, bikers from almost all local clubs blocked the exit from the city shortly before 18:00 and said only cars with a special regime would be allowed through. The protest showed that the dispute is no longer about one premium increase alone. It is now a wider fight over whether seasonal motorcycle use should be treated under the same insurance rules as everyday road traffic, and the answer will decide whether this first wave of pressure is the end of the story or only the opening round.