PROPERTY SEARCH
PROPERTY SEARCH
ARCHIVED - Lidl closes two stores in Spain due to supply shortage
The national transport strike in Spain is taking its toll on every sector
As the Spanish transport strike moves into its seventh day, alarm bells are ringing across the country with practically every sector warning of “imminent problems” with supply. The indefinite work stoppage itself, together with scenes of violence that have erupted between picketers and truckers wanting to carry on driving, has effectively led many supply chains to break down, forcing industries to reduce or suspend their activities as a result.
The latest casualty is German supermarket giant Lidl, which was forced to shut two stores in Gijón, Asturias on Friday March 18 as there simply weren’t enough products to fill the shelves. Although the shops on calles Ezcurdia and Pérez de Ayala reopened as normal the following day, it points to a bigger problem which is already spreading out to affect other sectors.
Barely a couple of days into the strike, the hospitality industry was complaining about the lack of fresh produce available, and some livestock companies in Toledo have run out of feed for their cattle.
The industrial action has been called by minority group Platform for the Defence of the National and International Road Freight Transport Sector against unsustainable working conditions and the continuous rise of fuel prices, but does not have the overall support of the official employers’ association. This fact alone has led to serious clashes between drivers, one of which resulted in a picketer being shot in Madrid.
As the strike drags on and threatens further disruptions, the Ministers of Economic Affairs, Finance and Transport has called a meeting this Monday (March 21) with the National Committee for Road Transport (CNTC) in an attempt to resolve the most pressing issues.
The Spanish government has already set March 29 as the date by which electricity, gas and fuel bills will be reduced overall, but with the strike already having cost an estimated 600 million euros to the primary sector, Francisco Aranda, president of UNO, the Spanish logistics employers, has warned that an urgent action plan is required to keep food on supermarket shelves.
“We cannot wait two weeks. The measures have to be imminent. The companies are bleeding,” he concluded.
Image: Archive
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268
