Spain deploys 50,000 police on first day of strike by truckers

The Spanish government deployed more than 50,000 police to monitor the first day of a strike by truckers amid concern the protest could snarl up supplies of food and goods.

Police units have been sent to strategic locations such as Barcelona’s port and Madrid’s wholesale market for fresh produce, Transport Minister Raquel Sanchez told reporters in Madrid. The protest hasn’t caused any major disruption so far, she said.

The police have been deployed to “guarantee that the vast majority of carriers who want to carry out their work can do so,” Sanchez said.

Protesters, mostly self-employed truck drivers and hauliers with small fleets of vehicles, claim that the government’s measures to help them deal with rising costs have been insufficient and that rules aimed at preventing them from having to work at a loss aren’t being respected.

“To all the carriers who are working: think, reflect, unload your trucks, go home, park, and join us,” Manuel Hernandez, the leader of the National Transport Sector Defense Platform, which is organizing the protest, said in a video posted on Facebook.

Earlier Protest

The lack of major incidents today contrasts with an earlier strike in March, when stoppages by truckers caused significant disruption to supply chains for businesses including supermarkets and beverage and car plants.

A spokesperson for MercaMadrid, the capital’s foods wholesale market, said the truckers’ strike so far hadn’t affected the movement of traffic.