Spanish truckers strike over high diesel prices

OVIEDO, Spain

Thousands of truckers began an indefinite strike in Spain on Monday, leading to traffic jams and picketing across the country.

The strike was called by the Platform for the Defense of the Transport Sector, which claims to represent the majority of self-employed truckers and small- and medium-sized trucking businesses.

Spain’s biggest transport companies and unions have not backed the action.

Even so, the strike has managed to cut or slow down traffic on highways across the country and has reportedly blocked some ports.

Striking truckers have also been seen throwing rocks at trucks that continue to operate and picketing them as they drive or take a break at rest stops.

On Monday, Spain’s Transportation Minister Raquel Sanchez called for calm, working to ensure that there won’t be a shortage of key materials even if the strike does slightly aggravate already tense supply chain issues.

“This is not the best time to call for protests or strikes, and I think everyone agrees. This is the time to think about what we can do to get out of this situation and minimize the effects of this crisis,” she said, referring to the impact of the war in Ukraine and its impact on commodities.

The platform behind the truckers’ strike said high fuel prices have pushed many truckers to the brink of bankruptcy.

It remains unclear how many truckers are participating, but Sanchez said the following isn't “too high.”

However, Manuel Hernández, who heads the platform behind the strike, threatened that the consequences will grow worse in the days to come.

“This is going to be prolonged … The government may say that it’s not having much of an effect but that’s only because we’ve let truckers move what they need to. But on the other hand, it’s already affecting supermarkets that could start running out of goods in hours or days,” he said in a Facebook video Monday.

Over the weekend, another of the platform’s spokesmen, José Fernández, told Spanish daily El Plural that the “inept” Spanish government is behind rising fuel prices, not Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also echoed the Russian talking point of calling Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a Nazi.”

Hernández said the Spanish government has not reached out to the platform to begin negotiations.