[virgincrude]

pup55: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hen the Americans do something, it is always about 10 times more grandiose than the Euro version, and this will be no exception.

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'I')t's heartbreaking to see the local plastic greenhouses all around here filled to the brim with ripe ready produce and nobody plucking it.

[virgincrude]

Dreamtwister: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his was predicted. I can't remember who first said it, but it was said that "People will starve while food rots on the loading docks."

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'N')obody is, nor will be starving.

[NorseNomad]

So far, everything is normal up here. Almost nobody is aware of high oil prices, as it's getting very little media coverage. Some have noticed increased gas prices and there have been some complaints about it, but mostly focusing on an upcoming 2 cent/litre tax increase on gas. Totally quiet this week, though. Nothing about the strikes in Europe on the news or online newspapers.

[Karlos4]

Update.
Fish, fruits and fresh vegetables were only at 15% in the main distribution centres in Barcelona.
If you are interested, the first things to run out because of the strike are:
Milk.
Water.
Rice and pasta.
Lettucce
Fresh meat
Oil.
Canned vegetables.
Bakery products
Coffe
Diapers (ugly if you have a baby)
Car factories have been hit specially hard, as they can't make cars without spare parts. Nissan Spain is considering to send home 3.000 workers until the strike ends.
This situation is a good exercise to think about how could it be in the future a real oil shortage. Right now people are not desperate, just annoyed. The sad part, of course, is violence.
I guess a lot more people are going to get interested in Peak Oil from now on in this country.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Karlos4', 'W')ater.

[virgincrude]

Of course, SPG, you surely would have heard if Barcelona, or anywhere else in the 'developed' world was no longer able to keep the water treatment plants working. Just like most places in the US, Barcelona provides pure drinking water through the faucet, depending where you are, what it tastes like. Many people prefer spring water, besides the obvious panic buying which probably enhanced sales a great deal.

The knock on effects of the trucker's strike is impressive. Today the farmers were warning of cattle starving should supplies of feed not reach them by tomorrow. Many regions have started using police escorts to get vital supplies where they're needed. I suppose it sounds like the doomer scenario so many here dream of, but really, it's just another strike, admittedly a very timely and effective one. Just highlights how thoroughly dependent we all are on transport fuel.

In my local superstore this morning, there were a few empty shelves, no lettuce and the fruit and veg stocks extremely run down. But I bought onions, steaks. There was plenty of bottled water (I notice the booze section was well stocked, as usual) there was no UHT milk (fresh milk is really hard to buy all over Spain, it's all in tetrabricks, UHT treated) the shelves were bare of a few types of yoghurt and milk type deserts, and all chicken ran out on tuesday already.

So it depends where you are and where you shop. I got my eggs from a woman across the road who has chickens. Yesterday a woman in my gym was recounting her local fruit and veg guy was out of everything, including potatoes. Mine had everything this morning. The fruit and veg are piled up in the warehouses. The really annoying thing is that, rather than invite us in to buy direct, they'll throw the produce in the street in some dumb display of frustration. These stupid displays of "food arrogance" should be outlawed, and may well be as we move forward into a world of the starved and over fed.

[Troyboy1208]

Karlos there is a really good article on the front page of Peak oil with some very disturbing pictures. Farmers are rioting in southern spain. It seems the situation there is quite fragile at the moment. I was in Barcelona two years ago and Madrid. Beautiful cities but man there are alot of mouths to feed. Stay safe and thanks for the awesome update. Look forward to hearing from you as often as you can manage

[portuga]

hey ppl, here in portugal everything is back to business at usual... the government caved in just a litte and threatened to call the army to the streets... i heard rumours that farmers are preparing similar protests, so stay tuned...
Now is time to calculate losses and for me to continue with the construction of my supplies stash....
hey carlos " This situation is a good exercise to think about how could it be in the future a real oil shortage. Right now people are not desperate, just annoyed. The sad part, of course, is violence.
I guess a lot more people are going to get interested in Peak Oil from now on in this country." that´s exactly how i feel except for the conclusion, this was still not enough to wake ppl up... oh and so much for the fantasy that europe is not as vulnerable to PO as the states.

[Twilight]

Oh look at this.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BBC', 'H')undreds of staff at BMW's car plant in Oxfordshire will be temporarily forced to cease production this weekend due to Spanish fuel protests.

Management at the plant, in Cowley, have told the BBC they cannot get hold of crucial parts as all airports and ports have effectively been blocked.

[ekaggata]

How plausible is this? :
Due to severe strike action from hauliers all over Europe, itself due to the fact that their business model is collapsing at these diesel prices, European governments are forced to slash taxes on diesel fuel for these customers.
As a result, the already stretched global market for diesel goes apeshit, thus running up the price of the commodity so drastically that the effect of the tax rebates is nullified.

Oops ...?

By the way, although I think the question was raised, in this thread and elsewhere, I never saw any answer as to why these hauliers can't just exert pricing power, and pass on the extra fuel cost to their end consumers..?

[virgincrude]

ekaggata: $this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')y the way, although I think the question was raised, in this thread and elsewhere, I never saw any answer as to why these hauliers can't just exert pricing power, and pass on the extra fuel cost to their end consumers..?

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', ' ')they are striking to get a minimum haulier's charge established as they say they are losing contracts because of drivers willing to undercut their rates: basically they are hauling goods and their costs are not being covered, they're working at a loss.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', ' ')they are striking to get a minimum haulier's charge established as they say they are losing contracts because of drivers willing to undercut their rates: basically they are hauling goods and their costs are not being covered, they're working at a loss.

[ekaggata]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'e')kaggata: There are 'rules' (laws) governing their charges, which prevent them from passing the costs on to the consumer.

[Karlos4]

Each day seems to carry a bad new.
Now taxi drivers in Catalonia (where I live) and Valencia are going on strike. Expect caos at the airports. What do they want? the same as everybody, cheaper fuel.

The supply situation is beggining to look better, now that police has cleared the roads from some of the most radical truck drivers. There are still shortages of certain things, it depends of where you live. Anyway, still convoy trucks have to be escorted by police into the city.
It's not that easy to fill the car's tanks, but the blame here is not on the lack of gas itself, but on pepole's reaction: everybody is filling up their tanks at once! I'm lucky i go to work by bicycle.

(Note: of course I was talking about bottled water. The day there is no drinkable water from our taps, then there will be a problem.)
I gotta tell you that live goes on as usual. This is not doomsday, you can come to Spain and enjoy your holidays and the only thing you'll notice, maybe, are the long lines at the gas stations. But it brings the feeling of the change, gives you a real warning about something you only knew as paper theory or some numbers on a screen.
It all looks like the begining of an adjustment phase, where people still does not realize they are not going to get cheap diesel anymore. We are heading fast into a hig-prices, job destruction era. What amazes me is that here, today, there is no real talk about the real problem "how much oil is left?"
In a week I'm going on holiday to Canary islands with my wife and kids. I'm going by plane and will rent a car. Enjoy things as they are now.

Last night we were watching a very good Peak Oil report on catalan TV. They talked about Hubbert, US Peak Oil, alternative energy and, yes, doomsday scenarios.
My younger kid, 8 years old Lucas, told me: "This is not fair. You've lived all your life in a world with oil, and I won't".
"We'll see" is all I could tell him.

[grom]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')arlos there is a really good article on the front page of Peak oil with some very disturbing pictures. Farmers are rioting in southern spain. It seems the situation there is quite fragile at the moment

[virgincrude]

SPG: You're right, of course, but this is Europe. It's hard for you to imagine how fundamentally different are the mind sets of Americans and Europeans. The idea of letting fishermen or any other tradesman simply shrivel and lose business is so un-European, especially so un-Socialist.

As for those exact laws, I would not have neither the time nor the inclination to get into a translation of these pernickity 'normativas' and where and how they apply, in which different autonomous region and in which circumstances. Euro-beaurocracy is legendary for a reason! I'm just repeating what I've learned from a few news sources.

It is true that many new jobs were created by the housing boom, lots of small scale hauliers for example, and grom is right: the economic contraction means they literally don't have anything to haul, so what's the European response?: let's go on strike and demand the government do something. This turmoil across the country has been caused by a minority, would you believe, who's aggresive picketing has stunned the nation.

[Hartmann]

This could be considered the first peak oil simulation.

Shortages in the shops, petrol convoys scorted by the police, some little riots, big factories stopped by lack of supplies and spare parts, workers without work ( no work, no money, no consume and the circle is closed) and other weird effects.

What would happen when the things are real and worse ??