After 48 hours of blockage, traffic at the Spanish border seems to be more fluid again. “For now, trucks are moving, but we don’t know much more than that at the moment,” reports Alexandre Boterdael of Frutas Ponche France. The action launched by Catalan separatists one day after the general elections in Spain, caused huge traffic jams and was not without consequences for the actors of the fruit and vegetable sector.
“The separatists blocked the border with tires, wood and anything they could get their hands on. It was not easy for the Guardia Civil to disperse everyone, as they came in relatively large numbers, preventing trucks from crossing the border. On Tuesday, we were blocked all day. The trucks that were supposed to arrive very early in the morning arrived with a delay of more than 24 hours,” explains Alexandre.
Since Monday, we have been confronted with delayed arrivals and thus cancellations of sales for supermarkets. So obviously, we were bothered. But the situation seems to be improving, so I think that everything will resolve itself over the weekend,” reported an employee of Sofruce Saint Charles.
Despite these rather positive first news, until Thursday afternoon, the professionals of the sector were still waiting to see if they would receive their merchandise on Friday or not.