MADRID: Key export chains in Spain could face major disruption if a long-running dispute between the government and the country’s dock workers extends beyond a planned three-day strike next week.
According to details, the standstill will take place every other hour on Feb. 20, 22 and 24 at dozens of Spanish ports which employ more than 6,000 stevedores and handle an estimated 500 million tons of merchandise a year.
“The strike action could cause a lot of problems, not only for the ports but also for the companies,” said an administrative source at the busy Mediterranean port of Valencia, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Spain’s export sector is worth more than 330 billion euros ($352 billion) a year, or about a third of economic output. Some two thirds of those exports pass through the country’s ports.
The strike will be especially painful for the automobile industry, given that Spain is the second largest car manufacturer in Europe. More than 80 percent of the approximately 7,800 vehicles produced every day are sent abroad.
Volkswagen’s Spanish unit Seat, which exports some 170,000 cars a year through the port of Barcelona, said the company had already begun to clear room to store vehicles it would be unable to ship during the strike period.
“If the strike lasts just three days, you need to plan ahead but it won’t cause too many delays,” a spokesman for the company said.
A longer dispute could be problematic and paralyze production lines as imported vehicle parts are held up in unloaded ships.
