The strike called since Monday by a minority of the freight transport sector has radicalized on Tuesday and Wednesday. This has led to a greater number of incidents being recorded and a gradual slowdown of the export of fruit and vegetables at a time of peak activity.
Since Tuesday, there has been more aggressiveness on the part of the pickets and a greater number of incidents between them and the carriers who do not support the strike, which has led many transport companies to stop for fear of attacks on their fleets and drivers.
The lack of trucks on the one hand, and the decision of the companies themselves not to load their goods, given their perishable nature, is causing a gradual slowdown of activities in the fruit and vegetable export sector.
March is one of the months with the highest fruit and vegetable export figures, with between 1.2 and 1.3 million tons. This entails weekly shipments ranging between 300,000 tons and 325,000 tons, with 94% of them going by road. A wide range of products are exported this month, mostly highly perishable ones, like bell peppers, lettuce, tomato and cabbage, and also some extremely perishable ones, like strawberries and other berries. FEPEX has asked the competent authorities to protect the free movement of goods and to take immediate measures to resolve the situation.
The most important wholesale market in Spain, Mercamadrid, has received around 60% less fruit and vegetables on Tuesday and Wednesday. Although the situation today seems to have improved slightly, no big change can be expected after a week with a 50% drop in shipments due to this transport strike. Besides, it remains impossible to reship products from this food hub to other parts of the country due to the situation resulting from the transport strike.
The strike is also taking its toll on the production. Producer associations such as Coag, in Almeria, have warned producers not to harvest crops these days and advised them to wait and see how the situation evolves, although some products cannot be harvested later. "There is already some accumulation of greenhouse products," says Andres Gongora, provincial secretary of Coag.
Luis Miguel Fernandez, manager of the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers' Organizations of Almeria, Coexphal, said that on the second day of the strike there were incidents in the area of La Cañada, Viator and Poniente. This situation has led them to request an urgent meeting with the Government Subdelegation, because although the Civil Guard is coming, "it is still not possible to access the highways to export our vegetables. We need to export the vegetables we have grown this winter, otherwise, we will have huge financial problems, as we won't be able to meet our orders while we lose market share, because the products from Morocco and other countries are still arriving. Every day that passes, the situation becomes more difficult."