Planned strike at all petrol stations in Andalucia due to increase in fuel prices

Planned strike at all petrol stations in Andalucia due to high fuel prices.

TALKS of a planned fuel strike at all petrol stations in Andalucia could come to fruition next week, as many people in Spain face the prospect of a significant rise in fuel prices and potential fuel shortages.

A strike is planned in the region for Monday, March 14 as the cost of petrol and diesel in Spain has been rising for more than a month, as reported by micarburante.com.

Furthermore, on Thursday, March 10, the Platform for the Defense of the National and International Road Freight Transport Sector announced an indefinite national transport strike that could begin at midnight on Monday, March 14. Incidentally, the last time a national freight strike took place over fuel costs was in June 2008, which led to large queues accumulated at petrol stations, while prices rose even further.

Andalucia Information is already reporting that queues of up to half an hour in the region as customers panic buy ahead of potential strikes.

“This is horrendous; after half an hour we’re still waiting here, there’s a big difference from the other days,” one driver said.

A customer at one petrol station in the region said they were stocking up on fuel ahead of proposed strikes “for fear that prices would continue to rise,” according to the news outlet.

“Next week we will again be close to two euros per litre of fuel. We are at record highs, but with a big difference. The price of energy and oil has never been so expensive. And the problem is how far it is going to go,” said Fernando García, president of the Granada Provincial Association of Service Stations on March 10.

Currently, filling up a 60-litre tank of fuel costs around €105 on average, which is up from around €65 to €70 from this time last year, the website notes. On March 5, the cost of motoring in Spain had finally broken the €2/litre barrier.

micarburante.com co-founder Pablo Torrecillas spoke to Spanish news outlet Ideal about the increasing petrol and diesel prices: “We mainly depend on the conflict [in Ukraine].

“The trend is so upward that we don’t even dare to say that there will be a point at which it will stop. It has to stop, because otherwise it is unthinkable, and not only for users who have a motorbike, car or whatever but also for transporters,” he said.

His brother and co-founder, Carlos, agreed: “I think there will come a point when it will have such an effect that it will have to go down, simply because it can’t be sustained. I imagine that the war has a 50-60 per cent direct impact on this happening,” he said.

José María Escudero, dean of the Professional Association of Economists of Granada, reiterated this point: “Supply is decreasing, or is expected to decrease, and, in the face of this fact, prices are rising. When there is a shortage in one place, other suppliers have to be found. What happens is that these things have to be taken with more time,” he stated.

Fernando García said that “in the eyes of the market and Spanish residents, it is counterproductive because we are cutting off the purchasing supply.

“The scenario is even darker after Biden’s decision to ban the import of Russian oil,” he concluded.

On Thursday, March 10, according to clickgasoil.com, the cheapest price of Diesel A in Andalucia was at a shopping centre in Jerez – €1.659 per litre, while the most expensive was €1.919 per litre.

The news of the proposed strike next week has already caused concern among some industry insiders that this could push the cost of petrol to €2.50 a litre.

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