Fuel protest: shortages, death and arrests hit Spain

A scary turn in Spain:

The Spanish lorry drivers' strike has started to cause shortages of food, fuel and car parts and the mood has turned ugly with one death and 15 arrests.

...

Supermarket shelves were running empty, panic-buying at petrol stations continued, ferries to the mainland were stopped due to a lack of fuel, and three car companies, Seat, Nissan and Mercedes Benz, suspended operations because they had not been able to get vital parts.

Fresh products such fish, eggs, milk and yoghurt were in shortest supply. Two wholesale markets, Mercamadrid, in Madrid, and Mercabarna, in Barcelona, reported deliveries were below normal.

It seems the neoliberal suppression of labor and the ability of the supply-side to pass through costs, which has developed over the past 30 years, is now coming to a head worldwide. And it isn't pretty.

This part is, at least, a bit amusing:

But the Socialist government, which has offered tax concessions to the lorry drivers, opposes fixing guaranteed rates, saying it would be against EU free market principles.

Hrmpf! Socialists, indeed!