The Government has deployed a special police device since 00:00 this morning to try to ensure that the indefinite strike called by the Platform for the Defense of the Road Transport Sector does not cause images of empty shelves in supermarkets again. That is the priority. The distribution is also on alert before this call, which again threatens to block logistics centers and even paralyze the production of some industries, as happened with the dairy industry in March. The objective of this deployment is to guarantee the free movement of goods so that there are no problems with the supply of basic products.
What happened eight months ago was the consequence of a series of errors that led to a shortage of certain products on store shelves in some areas of Spain. Milk was one of the products that was scarce in some points. Large supermarkets such as Mercadona, Carrefour, Alcampo or Dia want this not to be repeated and have been transmitting to the Ministry of Transport for several days that the essential thing at this time and during the next few days is to "guarantee security" in the distribution centers. They demand that violent altercations not be repeated and that the security forces and bodies guarantee "that whoever wants to work can do so." In March there were violent groups that punctured wheels and smashed windows of truckers who did not want to support the strike.
The special police device has been designed by the Secretary of State for Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Transport, according to sources from the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska. Agents from different forces will be deployed to strategic locations and, if necessary, will escort truck convoys to ensure that they can transport their goods. Mercamadrid, in the capital, is one of those sensitive points. Also the Coslada transport center, on the outskirts. In Barcelona, the port is a key infrastructure that will be monitored. This deployment has been designed based on "security forecasts and analyzes to guarantee the free movement of goods and prevent incidents". Interior will carry out over the next few days "constant follow-up and monitoring to evaluate the situation." Government delegates in several autonomous communities are also mobilized.
The distribution states that "if security is guaranteed, violent acts and public disorder are not allowed, the chain will function normally and supply will be guaranteed throughout the territory, as we have done at critical moments in the last three years" . “There is also a majority of transport and logistics companies and workers who do not want to stop and who demand that they be allowed to work safely,” they add from the sector. Companies, therefore, have plans prepared for the occasion.
The same distribution sources remind us that supply problems could affect the entire economy, export sectors such as the automobile, pharmaceutical or chemical industries, and "the situation is not exactly there to stop the country."
The convening platform denounces that self-employed truckers continue to work at a loss and that the Transport inspection is not acting on these situations prohibited by law. The Ministry, through two deputy general directors, met with the organizers last Thursday. After the meeting they decided to maintain the strike.
