Algeciras (Cádiz), Mar 7 (EFE).- Hundreds of people have gathered this Tuesday at the gates of the Border Control Post (PCF) of the port of Algeciras (Cádiz) to protest the collapse and blockade at the exit of the goods in road traffic, a situation that already affects 30% of the traffic in the port of Cádiz and that is causing the diversion of companies to other ports.
The president of the Ateia freight forwarders association, Manuel Cózar, warns that “the problem is serious and, if urgent solutions are not taken, we could endanger thousands of jobs.”
For Cózar, it is “a very serious situation that Madrid does not see. There are two ministries involved and that ignore our demands, which are the reinforcement of personnel, that digitization platforms be implemented to reduce times and that health protocols be applied based on European regulations, as other ports such as the of Rotterdam, who are the great beneficiaries of the situation we are suffering”.
The president of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA), Gerardo Landaluce, stresses that it is “a problem that is not new, that has been going on for years, but there comes a time when the situation is extreme, because it does not allow us to grow and puts the port’s credibility in question. That we have to come here to concentrate to ask that they let us work is an extreme situation”.
Containers held for more than a week
“If it were up to us, the problem would no longer exist, but we depend on third parties, which is why we sound the alarm and ask for coordination between administrations,” Landaluce points out about the blocking of goods in Algeciras.
The mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, expresses himself in the same terms, noting that “it seems that there are those who insist that the port of Algeciras, the first in the national port system, offer a bad image internationally.
If we add to this the lack of railway infrastructure, it is clear that the jewel in the economic and labor crown of the city of Campo de Gibraltar is being punished, while other areas of Spain are benefiting”.
From the Coordinadora union, Alberto Mesa explains that “there are trucks and containers that have been held for more than a week because inspections are not flowing. If the companies have to be here for a week and in other ports they do it in one or two days, they are going to leave and they are going to lose workload and jobs”.
In this regard, Miguel Alberto Díaz (CCOO) is emphatic: “Here we are unions, companies, business associations, public administrations, City Council, Port Authority… what can be expected more from so much union. The one that is isolated on this issue is the government itself.” EFE