ZP, better known as the President of Spain, announced (for some reason during a press q&a session with the President of Mexico, who looked a bit bewildered) that he was “cracking down” on the strikers, and said that Spain was almost back to normal. “Zero tolerance towards the strikers” is now the offical line from Madrid, and this was backed up as one striker was sentenced to 8 months in jail for rebelling against authority.

Three more lorries were burnt in Barcelona, and the lorry driver who was seriously burnt in his cab the other day said that “he’d hunt down” the chap who set his lorry alight and then he’d “better watch out”. Seems to be feeling better then. His wife, not to be left out, called the arsonist a “terrorist”. Meanwhile, ZP said that “burning lorries is not the solution”, an intelligent observation I would say. He also repeated his refusal to implement a minimum tariff on road transportation.

Meanwhile, millions of litres of milk are being wasted a day as there is nobody to pick it up, 1,5 million litres daily just in Andalucia according to COAG, which is costing Spanish farmers a million euros a day. Antonio Rodriguez, a spokesman for COAG, said that small dairy farmers were “In water up to their necks”. What I want to know is, what happens to the sewer farms when that much milk hit’s the processing plants?

The Government has moved to reassure us all repeating it’s claim that it is normalising food deliveries “irrespective of the strike”. In fact, an underling went so far as to call the situation “optimistic”. Tell that to SEAT, who gave 8000 workers the day off becuase there are no parts in their factory.

This afternoon, at aprox 14:15, I was present as the last few drops of petrol were sold at the Los Gallardos petrol station, and the cones brought out. I did take a photo of the lucky chap who went off with a can full of petrol, but he asked me not to put it on the net in case people came round to his house and tried to steal it.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has announced that it will take strict measures to continue the flow of essential basics through the blockades, and has announced that so far 51 lorry drivers have been arrested for scuffles with the authorities. More than 25,100 police agents have been activated across the country, plus the autonomous police forces, and have been ordered to crack down on any more road protests. Quite a few lorries have been confiscated so far.

“Striking is a right” announced D. Rubalcaba, minister for the interior, “but so is the right to basic essential foodstuff, medicine and petrol”. He also announced that, irrespective of the ongoing negotiations between the strikers and Fomento, deliveries by government lorries would continue. Interior Ministry has reported that as of this morning 2,953 trucks have been escorted, while it has ensured that carriers who want and can not carry out their work can ask for help from his department. Petrol, he announced, “will be delivered, come what may”.

However, Pedro from ES Los Gallardos told me that he still doesn’t know when any deliveries will appear. “We’re down the end of of the list” he said, gloomly.

Buying oranges online none the less, today is the day when supermarkets will start to run out of food as the strike bites deeper into the economy, warn local experts. With many petrol stations already dry, local press stuck their oar in by urging us all to keep calm by publishing guides on “how to store petrol in your basement” and “where to panic buy the last few drops of water & gas”.

First blood was spilled yesterday as a striker was run over in Granada, and again in Portugal. And overnight a lorry driver asleep in his van suffered severe burns when his lorry was set alight, apparantly in protest at his strike breaking. Those of you who like such things can see a video of the remains of the chap who was run over online at El País, not for the faint of heart. This apparantly put a dampner on negotiations last night, as a number of delegates walked out until the matter had been resolved.

Meanwhile, central government have put together an offer of 54 points to the strikers, who are currently considering it. It does not, according to a government spokesperson, include some of their central demands, such as a cap on diesel costs for lorries and minimum transport prices. At least two of the largest transport unions have not yet started to consider the deal.

Locally, a number of pickets were setup in Almeria, but most people seem to have decided to bunk off and go to the beach. Carboneras port was blockaded for a while, but according to an eye witness it was all in good fun. Petrol stations along the coast are dry, and Super Turre was almost out of meat yesterday. I know of at least one delivery chap from Huercal de Almeria who was told that if his lorry went out on deliveries they’d “slash his tires”, which seems harsh. Motorways around the capital cities are intermittently being blocked by convoys of bored lorry drivers, so watch out for those. Catalunia was shipping petrol out by it’s own fleet of government lorries, to keep the traffic moving.

How long is this going to go on? Remember that it’s not just Spain, it’s also Portugal, France, Italy and parts of the UK… French administration on strike as from today, including trains! If one of these groups gets a good deal from their government, then everybody else goes back to the strike. Personally, I’m checking the tire pressure of my bike as soon as I finish this.