Food, fuel supply fears as European truckers strike

By Andrew Hay

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish truck drivers blocked the border with France to all goods traffic on Monday as fuel price protests in Spain, France and Portugal raised fears of food and petrol shortages.

Spanish and Portuguese drivers began indefinite strikes, and lines of trucks up to 8 km (5 miles) long formed on the French side of the border after Spanish picketers smashed the windscreens of foreign goods drivers who tried to enter Spain.

French and Spanish truckers also staged 'go-slow' protests, causing tailbacks of 30 km in Bordeaux, France, and 20 km or more around Madrid and Barcelona.

The drivers were all demanding action to offset the effect of high oil prices, now at record highs of over $139 per barrel.

Spaniards fearing fuel shortages queued to fill their tanks and 40 percent of gas stations ran out of supplies in Spain's hardest hit region, Catalonia, according to one industry group.

Long lines formed at Spanish and Portuguese supermarkets after truckers said they could run out of fresh food in days.

"No one is earning enough money to eat any more: not the truckers, not the fishermen, nobody, and someone has to find a solution," said Jaime Diaz, president of Spain's National Road Transport Confederation.

PRICE DEMANDS