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Prepare for massive traffic jams across Spain as truck drivers join tractor protests
The indefinite transport worker strike will be staged all throughout Spain from Saturday February 10
Transport sector strikes last year
Major disruption is expected up and down the country in the coming weeks as thousands of self-employed drivers and road freight truckers are set to join the farmers’ protests with the call for an indefinite nationwide strike from Saturday February 10.
Spain has followed the example of France, where tractor drivers have been demonstrating against a proposed change in European Union regulations that would affect their work hours and pay. The proposal, known as the ‘mobility package,’ plans to introduce a maximum daily driving time of nine hours, with a requirement for a minimum of four hours’ rest every 24 hours.
Professional freight companies across the EU claim that this would force them to hire more drivers, which would increase costs and reduce their profit margins.
The strike action in Spain has been called by the National Platform for the Defence of the Transport Sector which last year staged another country-wide strike that blocked roads for hours on end and seriously threatened the delivery and distribution of food and other products.
The platform has asked for the support and participation of the public in the planned industrial action, despite the fact that the unions are against it. Likewise, the Spanish Minister of Transport Oscar Puente has called the transport sector strike “absolutely unjustified”.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CEMT) is taking a more balanced approach, saying that while it respects and understands the demands of drivers, it is “essential to guarantee the wellbeing” of the general public and the Spanish economy.
But if the events of recent days are anything to go by, the situation is bound to get a lot worse than before it gets better. Even without other drivers from the transport sector involved, rush hour traffic has ground to a halt in the likes of Granada, Castilla-La Mancha and Aragón on Tuesday February 6 as hundreds of tractors line up outside government buildings in a coordinated national protest.
In Málaga capital city, the Ayuntamiento has recommended that people avoid driving in the centre and near the port due to the presence of tractors.
Image: Social Drive
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