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STRIKES

New haulier strike starts in Spain: What you need to know

Truck drivers in Spain started an indefinite strike on Monday which may threaten the supply of food and goods ahead of Black Friday and Christmas. Here’s how the stoppage could affect you based on what happened the last time.

Published: 8 November 2022 17:20 CET
Updated: 14 November 2022 09:44 CET
New haulier strike starts in Spain: What you need to know
Spanish authorities will now be looking to avoid scenes of half-empty shelves in some supermarkets once again. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

Spain’s National Platform for the Defence of Transport last week called an indefinite strike from Monday November 14th, for which it received support from 86 percent of its associated companies.

In a statement, they have called truckers from around Spain to join a demonstration at Madrid’s Atocha train station at 10am on Monday, adding that representatives from Spain’s agriculture, hospitality and livestock sectors will also be present.

This situation is similar to the strike which happened in March 2022, lasting for 20 days and leaving many supermarket shelves empty.

Small transport companies and self-employed truckers have criticised that agreements reached in the spring and ratified in August by the Spanish government have not been complied with. 

Among the agreed measures was a new law preventing them from working at a loss and a new package of direct aid for the sector of €450 million.  

Lorry drivers claim that wages have not risen and they are still working at a loss while stating that they will be even more stretched in the coming weeks due to Black Friday and the Christmas period.

“It’s worth nothing if a law is created but not monitored, there is no intent to implement it and give a solution to the problem”, said Manuel Hernández, the president of the platform, at a press conference on Monday November 7th.

He also claims that as a result of this inaction, 250 Spanish transport companies are having to close every month.

In response, Spain’s Transport Minister Raquel Sánchez said that working conditions of carriers “have improved substantially” and that the current situation is very different to what it was a few months ago. “It makes no sense that a new strike should take place right now”, she continued.  

Some farming, logistics and hospitality groups have also slammed the planned strike, calling it “irresponsible” for threatening the supply chain at a time when “thousands of companies have their earnings on the line”.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called upon the transport companies to act “responsibly”.  

How will the strike affect me?

More than 100 million deliveries are expected to be carried out in Spain between Black Friday and the Christmas period, by far the busiest time of the year. 

Experts don’t know exactly yet what damage the strike will be this time, but last March losses amounted to €600 million a day, with the supply of basic products and raw materials seriously affected. 

These included food products such as sunflower oil, milk and other fresh products from Andalusia and Murcia, where the strike caused the most damage.

It also had an impact on traffic due to road blockades, it resulted in fuel and building material shortages, led to the temporary closure of vehicle factories due to a lack of spare parts and even threatened the supply of tap water in northern Spain.  

Distributors, restauranteurs and other business owners don’t want the situation to be repeated. They are demanding “safety and guarantees for the supply of products and raw materials”. 

For toy stores as well as drinks and spirits manufacturers, the lead up to Christmas is the most crucial part of the business year.

There are approximately 365,000 lorry drivers in Spain. Around half of the country’s transport companies are run by self-employed workers, and a further 30 percent are small businesses with fewer than five trucks.

The fact that so much of Spain’s haulier network is made up of microbusinesses with mid to low earnings highlights how exposed the country’s logistical machine is.

In the worst-case scenario, a prolonged trucker strike that continues into December, could mean that anyone doing their Christmas shopping finds that certain items are not available, that they have to pay more for them or wait longer to get them.  

The war in Ukraine has already reduced some transport links across Europe, so indefinite strikes could cause the situation to worsen.

Spanish authorities will now be looking to avoid scenes of half-empty shelves in some supermarkets once again.

Supermarket officials have said that since the strike was announced last week, they haven’t noticed any panic buying on the part of shoppers. There are no indications yet that they will struggle to stock their products, but they are also cautiously waiting to see the turnout at the first round of protests on Monday to evaluate the impact.

It’s worth noting that the last time Spanish hauliers carried out a stoppage in March, they helped convince the Spanish government to implement a state-subsidised reduction of 20 euros cents per litre of fuel for all people in Spain, not just for transport workers.

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POLITICS

Spain meets with UK govt to explore easing red tape on food trade

Spain’s agricultural Minister Luis Planas met with his British counterpart this week to try and ease post-Brexit red tape and request prior warning of any changes to border rules with Spain’s biggest non-EU food market.

Published: 11 September 2024 09:40 CEST
Spain meets with UK govt to explore easing red tape on food trade

Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, this week met in London with his British counterpart, Steve Reed, with the aim of strengthening trade in agricultural goods and a view to the possible elimination of post-Brexit bureaucratic red tape.

This comes amid a wider political recalibration from the new Labour government, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer signalling his intention to reset relations with the EU where possible.

Agricultural goods, in particular border check rules, are an issue that has effectively been botched since the former Conservative government’s 2020 Brexit deal. 

READ ALSO: What Labour’s UK election win means for Brits in Spain

The Spanish government, for its part, hopes this will help to increase its volume of food exports to the UK.

The UK is Spain’s fifth biggest destination for exports globally, and the first for exports outside the EU Internal Market. British imports of Spanish products in 2023 amounted to €4.82 billion, of which €2.1 billion were fruit and vegetables, followed by wine, citrus fruits, red fruits and olive oil.

A statement on Planas’ visit from La Moncloa asserted that “Spain plays a strategic role for the UK’s food security, as it is the UK’s main supplier of fresh produce.” Figures show that around a quarter of the vegetables imported by the UK come from Spain, and in the case of products such as lettuce, this figure rises to 80 percent.

Planas praised the “excellent collaboration” between Spain and the UK, something that has allowed the UK to remain one of the main markets for Spanish agri-food products after Brexit, despite the red tape and legal uncertainty, and stressed that this coordination will be further strengthened by the new Labour government.

Leaving the EU meant that Britain should have come up with new border rules on agri-food imports. However, red tape and bureaucratic backlogs have caused incidents on the border at times, something that can generate tensions between operators and damage trade relations.

The Conservative governments that oversaw Brexit negotiations with Brussels delayed implementing sanitary and phytosanitary border controls several times, something they were obliged to do by the trade agreement finally signed at the end of 2020. 

This was due largely to the fact that the British government was not prepared for new customs rules and border inspections, but also to avoid price increases for British consumers. Last week the British press revealed that the new Labour government also plans to delay new customs controls on fresh fruit and vegetables until July 2025.

Speaking to Spanish news agency EFE, Planas stressed the importance of reaching an agreement on standards. The meeting also discussed the proposed implementation of the ‘Border Target Operating Model’, a new customs model using technology that will establish different categories of controls and ease border fluidity.

Planas highlighted the importance of both operators and governments being as clear as possible about these changes and their implementation time. As such, the Minister requested from the UK government “a courtesy warning” before any changes are made to controls on imports.

“My warning, in this case, is simply a demand for courtesy. If you are going to do something, let us know in good time,” the Minister told Spanish daily El País.

Planas meeting in London comes amid broader moves by the Labour government to try and reboot relations with Brussels. Writing exclusively for The Local, Foreign Secretary David Lammy declared recently that “it’s time to reset Britain’s relations with Europe.”

In recent months, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suggested to Starmer the idea of a reciprocal youth mobility scheme between the two countries, something Downing St. has distanced itself from.

READ ALSO: Can Spain and the UK legally create a ‘free movement scheme’ for young people?

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