STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Let's stay in Europe a moment to talk about an incident that shows the bitterness over high fuel prices. Thousands of truckers in Spain have gone on strike. They've left gas stations without fuel, and they've left supermarket shelves empty. In one city, strikers set up a picket line at a wholesale food market, and somebody not striking drove a van through that picket line, killing a protestor. Jerome Socolovsky has more on this story from Madrid.
JEROME SOCOLOVSKY: Truckers have certainly been making a nuisance of themselves here in Spain.
(Soundbite of truck horns)
SOCOLOVSKY: Since Monday, they've been driving alone expressways at a snail's pace during rush hour, creating enormous bottlenecks. Few trucks are making deliveries to Spain's markets.
I'm standing at the entrance to Mercamadrid. It's the largest wholesale food-distribution center in the country. Normally, there would be long lines of trucks waiting to pass through the toll-booth gates here, but the area's almost desolate now, even though it's technically almost opening time. And occasionally, a small van or truck pulls up with some goods.
(Soundbite of truck engine)
SOCOLOVSKY: Luis Garcia(ph) has driven up in a small truck with several dozen crates of cucumbers.
Mr. LUIS GARCIA (Trucker): (Spanish spoken)
Unidentified Man: (Spanish spoken)
SOCOLOVSKY: The strike is right, but it's gotten out of hand, he says. They should ease up a bit.
Garcia lets me into the cab of his truck, and we drive towards the warehouse, where he'll unload his cargo. He says it now costs him around $160 to fill his 20-gallon tank.
Mr. GARCIA: (Spanish spoken)
SOCOLOVSKY: Our expenses are already more than our income, he says. Garcia and his father run their own business. They joined the strike for three days, but now he says he doesn't want to be left with truckloads of spoiled produce.
(Soundbite of crowd chatter)
SOCOLOVSKY: In recent days, picketers have smashed strike-breakers' windshields and even set fire to their rigs. Yesterday, police started to crack down hard.
(Soundbite of shouting, whistling)
SOCOLOVSKY: Spanish news programs showed scenes from around the country of violence and chaos, riot police swinging truncheons, men and women bloodied and dazed, a policeman being kicked on the ground. Farmers rioted in Almeria, fishermen in Seville. All are demanding fuel subsidies.
The truckers, many of whom are self-employed, also want limits on competition from large transport companies. The government is being criticized for letting the protests get out of hand. A wave of panic buying has left hundreds of gas stations without fuel and many supermarkets out of stock.
(Soundbite of banging)
SOCOLOVSKY: A vendor closes his stall at a farmer's market in Madrid's La Latina District. Shopper Dani Garcia(ph) says he feels helpless because high fuel prices are coinciding with Spain's worst economic crisis in 15 years.
Mr. DANI GARCIA: (Spanish spoken)
SOCOLOVSKY: I think this is, unfortunately, the beginning of lots of strikes, he says.
The way the protests have escalated in recent days, he may be right. For NPR News, I'm Jerome Socolovsky in Madrid. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
