Government says police escorts are the solution to 'illegal' hauliers’ strike in Spain
State security forces have been assigned to accompany convoys of lorries and stop pickets blocking their way
Melchor Sáiz-Pardo
Madrid
Monday, 21 March 2022, 10:24
Spain’s Ministry of the Interior believes it has solved the supply problems caused by the hauliers’ strike by providing lorries with massive police escorts from logistics centres to markets and other distribution points.
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According to official figures, between last Wednesday and 8am on Saturday, the National Police and Guardia Civil had accompanied 714 convoys of lorries and thereby prevented pickets setting up blockades. Since the protest action called by the Platform for the Defence of the Freight Transport Sector began last Monday, 29 people have been arrested and another 332 reported.
In total, 23,598 officers from the State security forces have been assigned to these duties (16,476 Guardia Civil and 7,122 police officers), which is one-eighth of the total. Despite being called by a minority group, the strike – which the Ministry of the Interior describes as illegal - was already causing considerable shortages of food in markets and supermarkets all over the country.
