Rising fuel prices spark unrest in parts of Europe

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Spain to protest against rising energy costs that have been exacerbated by Russia’s operation in Ukraine.

The rallies on Saturday were called by Spain’s far-right Vox party. The major grievances are the spiraling costs of food, light and fuel.

In the capital Madrid, several thousand people gathered outside the City Hall as they waved Spanish flags and chanted slogans calling for the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

This government “is taking everything from us,” Anabel, a 56-year-old demonstrator who didn’t give her surname told AFP. “They hike the light and gas prices and say it’s because of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, but that’s a lie. It was like this before.”

“Light prices really affect (my family) because some of us work from home, and we can hardly put the heating on because the price of gas has almost doubled over the past six months.”

Francisco, 53, another protester who is unemployed, said, “A country that raises prices in this way and doesn’t help its citizens by partially lowering taxes, is abandoning its people.”

“We have to force the government to act – or remove them, for Spain’s sake.”

On Friday, a group of mostly self-employed Spanish truckers walked off their jobs over high fuel prices and other grievances.

The self-employed truckers say what they are being paid to haul loads does not cover their costs. They also claim large distribution companies engage in unfair competition, forcing down the freight charges.

Spain deployed more than 23,000 police officers amid the truckers’ strike. Police in patrol cars and helicopters escorted convoys of trucks along highways and held back picketers who threw burning tires onto a highway overnight in northwestern Spain, national media reported. Police arrested six people and placed 34 others under investigation, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry.

The Spanish government says it plans to introduce measures against high energy and fuel prices later this month, a measure already taken by other governments across Europe.

The prime ministers of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece met on Friday to call for an urgent European Union-wide response to the energy crisis to come out of next week’s European Council meeting in Brussels.