A truckers’ strike in Spain is growing in intensity and beginning to interrupt food supplies.
Three truckers’ unions have joined the protests, which began as a spontaneous strike March 14 over high fuel prices, regulations and other issues. Some of the striking truckers have been blocking roads in industrial areas.
The strike and roadblocks have been having an effect, with shipments of cattle feed, packaging materials and fresh foodstuffs being compromised. Spain’s Interior Ministry has deployed more than 20,000 police officers to safeguard food shipments.
The truckers’ unions joined the protest after rejecting a $550 million support package from the government on March 21, saying it wasn’t enough to compensate for soaring fuel prices. The government claims that far-right political parties are behind the strike and roadblocks, but the strikers, a group loosely organized on social media, say they are nonpartisan.
