Key points:
- Spain’s 11 November general strike, called by the CCOO and UGT unions over housing costs and wages, blocked around 80 roads in Catalonia and key routes around Madrid and Valencia.
- Container handling stopped in Algeciras for 24 hours, and Valencia, Barcelona, Tarragona and the northern ports were also hit.
- Only about 1% of long-distance truck drivers joined the strike, but hauliers faced blocked access to ports and industrial estates.
- Valencia warned that trucks may pile up at its terminals on Thursday and Friday, and hauliers serving Ireland face a fresh round of fuel protests on Friday.
Blocked roads around the big cities
Catalonia saw the worst traffic problems. Protests affected about 80 roads across the region, according to the regional traffic authority, with combined queues peaking at around 100 km. Traffic entering the Barcelona ring roads fell by 51%. The AP-7, the Ronda Litoral and the A-2 were all affected, and access to CIM Vallès, a major logistics hub in Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, was restricted.
In Madrid, pickets cut off the A-5 near Alcorcón early in the morning and, according to the organisers, also blocked the M-30, M-40, A-1 and A-42, as well as the Mercamadrid wholesale market. In Valencia, the V-21 and the Ronda Nord were blocked for about 45 minutes until police cleared them, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE reported.
Ports came to a standstill
Ports were hit hardest. According to the unions, around 90% of port workers joined the strike nationwide.
- Algeciras: both container terminals, APM Terminals and TTI, stopped work from 2:00 on Wednesday until 2:00 on Thursday. Only minimum ferry services to Ceuta continued.
- Valencia: ordinary loading and unloading stopped, with only dangerous and perishable goods handled.
- Barcelona: pickets blocked access to the port in the morning, and customs inspections in some terminals were suspended.
- Tarragona: with the A-27 blocked, only 40 trucks entered the port between midnight and 14:00, compared with 1,586 on the same day last year.
Rail freight was also disrupted. Renfe Mercancías cancelled 25 of 38 night freight trains.
Drivers worked, trucks waited
For road hauliers, the strike was less about drivers walking out and more about getting through. The international road hauliers’ association ASTIC said that 99% of drivers at its member companies kept working, but some industrial and logistics sites were hard to reach, especially in Catalonia and around Algeciras. Pickets also blocked trucks at the Tarragona petrochemical complex, the largest in southern Europe.
The transport confederation CETM reported isolated problems at wholesale markets, ports and industrial estates, but no major impact on freight overall. The hauliers’ federation Fenadismer said nails and other sharp objects had been scattered on some roads, damaging truck tyres, and asked the Interior Ministry to investigate.
Ahead of the strike, hauliers had warned of disruption to deliveries.
Knock-on effects this week
The ports reopened on Thursday, but the backlog has not cleared yet. The Port of Valencia opened its container terminals early, at 6:00 on Thursday, and warned that trucks may concentrate at the terminals on Thursday and Friday. Rail freight could see more disruption, as the train drivers’ union Semaf has kept a strike planned for 17 November and moved another one to 23 November.
Hauliers serving Ireland face another test on Friday, when fuel protest convoys are planned on six main roads around Dublin, including the routes to Dublin Port and Rosslare.
