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Date Published: 29/03/2022

ARCHIVED - Light at the end of the tunnel as many truckers in Spain return to the roads

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Despite the ongoing strike of carriers in Spain, 97% of transport activity has resumed

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Light at the end of the tunnel as many truckers in Spain return to the roads

As the national transport strike enters its third week of protests, there may finally be some light at the end of the tunnel right when Spain is preparing for a widespread shortage of everything from fuel to grocery products. Following an agreement at the end of last week that will see the government offer professional drivers a 20 cent per litre reduction on petrol and diesel costs, the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM) assured on Monday March 28 that “many more trucks are circulating” on the roads than in previous days.

Despite the fact that the National Platform in Defence of Transport has roundly rejected the government’s deal and demanded a stronger interim plan to alleviate the pressure of rising fuel costs on professional drivers, there is “practical normality” on Spanish roads this week, and the only traffic problems reported due to the protests were in Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country.

However, in these areas where picketers remain, the confederation claims that “the wheels [of trucks] continue to be punctured” by demonstrators. In Barcelona, a group of 70 transport workers tried to block the roads on Monday while in Cordoba, another crowd piled up tyres on the motorway that they had intended to set fire to, before the authorities intervened.

Even with these ongoing pockets of disturbances, transport activity reached around 97% of normal levels over the weekend as usual business resumed in most of the ports, many of which, such as Cartagena, were forced to employ Guardia Civil officers in recent days to ensure that cargo could leave safely to supply the Spanish public.

At the same time, sectors such as fishing, which in recent weeks had stayed in ports as a protest, have returned to work and not before time; supermarket shelves that were practically bare of stock at the end of last week should begin filling up again.

Image: Social Drive

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