No hot meals, showers or toilets for Catalonia's truckers

With the state of alarm aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus, much of the country has been shut down. Yet, truckers are complaining that many highway rest stops are also closed, leaving them without anywhere to eat a meal, shower, or even go to the toilet.

In many rest areas on highways, the restaurants and bars are shuttered. In some places, truck drivers say that even the restrooms are locked. "All you find is a coffee vending machine outside," trucker David Bladé tells the Catalan News Agency.

The situation in deserted rest areas has left many truckers feeling "indignant," especially during the health crisis that has made their work "more fundamental" than ever. "It is a precarious situation and shows a lack of respect," adds Bladé.

Truckers treated "like animals"

Despite making up for the lack of basic services by taking necessary provisions with them, many drivers still feel they are being treated "like animals," and complain that having nowhere to wash flies in the face of advice to take extreme care with hygiene.

"We are used to going for three days without a shower if it's necessary, but we're humans and the work is taking its toll, even though we understand what the situation is," says another truck driver.

At the same time, the drivers have praise for the protection measures introduced to ensure their safety at work and say they are provided with face masks and gloves and these days often do not even have to leave the cabin when loading or unloading.

Drivers "have the right" to basic services, says federation

Yet, the issue of basic services on the road remains a problem and the transport workers federation in the southern region of Tarragona, Feat, reiterates that the state authorities declared that drivers "have the right" to restrooms and "essential services."

While the federation's head, Josep Lluís Aymat, acknowledges that the authorities responded to the sector's calls for such services to be guaranteed, the problem he says is that not all rest areas are complying with the emergency rules.

According to Aymat, not everyone is showing "solidarity with the efforts the transport sector is making," and his federation is advising its members to report those places around Spain that do not provide access to basic facilities, such as toilets or a hot meal.

Meanwhile, Aymats praises drivers for their efforts in helping to keep stores stocked and he imagines a situation in which the public were to find empty shelves: "The panic it would have caused has been avoided by the transport sector," he says.