'Spanish, German towns paralyzed in fuel protest'

DAILY TELEGRAPH, London: 20th September, 2000

"Spanish and German towns at standstill in fuel protests" By Tim Brown in Madrid and Toby Helm in Berlin

PROTESTS over fuel prices returned to mainland Europe with a vengeance yesterday as Spain was hit by its most serious disruption to date and more German towns were brought to a standstill. Spanish lorry drivers, farmers and fishermen drove at a snail's pace into cities and towns, blockading oil storage plants and ports. Only a small area in the north of the country escaped some form of protest.

Traffic was halted when protesters drove a column of 50 tractors slowly into Madrid from Arganda, an agricultural town 20 miles away, and held a demonstration outside the Agriculture Ministry.

There were similar slow drives into many other cities and towns. Lorry drivers threatened to increase the pressure on the government with a three-day national strike beginning on Oct 2, with taxi drivers joining in. But Pio Cabanillas, spokesman for the conservative Popular Party government, said: "It is a time for negotiations, not demonstrations."

Fishermen along the Mediterranean coastline kept their boats tied up and several ports were blockaded, including Valencia and Castellon, where a BP tanker was prevented from unloading. But more than 20 trawlers lifted a blockade of Barcelona early yesterday after a 24-hour period in which they prevented about 20 merchant ships from docking.

Oil storage depots were blockaded in several parts of the country. Tax on petrol in Spain is 57 per cent, with a litre of unleaded fuel costing 53p. In Germany protesters refused to give up their fight despite government concessions. About 400 lorries, taxis and buses brought the centre of Hamburg to a standstill with a morning go-slow.

In the north-west hundreds of farmers formed tractor convoys and moved slowly through the towns of M|nster, G|tersloh, Bielefeld and Minden. Further south, about 150 lorries held up traffic on the Frankfurt-Wiesbaden motorway by driving slowly in all three lanes. Lorries also held up traffic on the Frankfurt-W|rzburg autobahn.

By the end of this week the Social-Democrat/Green coalition government is expected to announce increases in tax relief for all commuters, irrespective of how they travel to work. Special help will also be announced for pensioners and those on low incomes.

In Sweden farmers suspended their protests and there were only a few blockades by lorry drivers who said they saw signs that the government was giving ground. European Union transport ministers will discuss the fuel crisis at a meeting in Luxembourg today.

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-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), September 20, 2000