Spain: 150,000 farmers demonstrate against fuel price rises: On March 20, some 150,000 farmers and cattle breeders took the streets in Madrid, calling on Pedro Sanchez’s socialist government to take immediate measures to curb rising prices, especially fuel and fertilizer prices, and falling farm income. Demonstrators formed a 4 km procession led by tractors, horsemen and hunting dogs. Spanish flags were all over and banners read, “Cattle breeders in the process of extinction” or “SOS rural world.” “This government is ruining us, with increasingly expensive fuel,” said Nora Guzmán, who came from Pozuelo de Alarcón, west of Madrid, driving her tractor. They responded to the call of the Rural Alliance platform (Alianza Rural), which claims to represent 10 million Spanish farmers and was organized the day after the one that brought together thousands of people at the call of the far-right party Vox to protest the food and energy price rises, aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine. The country’s main trade union confederations have called for a general strike on March 23.
France: Truckers strike against soaring fuel prices: On March 21, several smaller independent road haulers are blocking access to various highways in Normandy and northern France. Gasoline prices at the pump is the threat that mobilizes these professionals. Under the effects of inflation and the war in Ukraine, diesel or gasoline costs around €2/liter. “We demand a professional gasoline ceiling, a professional license for our drivers and a pricing of transport,” explained Dominique Durand, member of the transport group France TPE, on France Bleu Picardie. “We are being strangled by this increase in the price of fuel, which reaches 30%,” added Claude Baralle, manager of the transport company Cambrai Logistique Services, based in Cambrai, also on France Bleu Picardie. “We cannot pass this increase on to our customers.” Faced with the protest, the government announced on March 18, an envelope of €400 million for road transporters. Too late and not enough say angry truckers.
Energy Prices: French fisherman paid to stop fishing: The soaring price of oil is hitting the French fisherman very hard. As in most fishing ports of France, in Sète, one of the main French fishing ports on the Mediterranean, fishermen are voicing their anger to draw the attention of public authorities. Access to the commercial port was blocked and the sailors demonstrated in front of the Prefecture of Montpellier.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the profession has literally seen the cost of its tax-free fuel explode, which was still (only) 90 cents a fortnight earlier. In March 2021, the price of a liter of “fishing diesel” was only 45 cents and today it has risen to €1.10 euros, the first time it has crossed the €1 mark. The bill for a full tank of diesel has doubled. The most dependent trawlers consume 1,500 to 2,000 liters of fuel per day at sea, so inevitably, the profitability of the boats is affected. For fishermen it is more like a nightmare. As a result, the sailors kiss their income goodbye. They invent the most exotic tricks to limit their fuel consumption, such as reducing the size of their nets, using an econometer on their enginet, etc.