The mooring of the fishing fleet in the port of Santa Pola is causing losses for the sector of around 123,000 euro per day, according to the local Fishermen ‘s Association.
Meetings are taking place to try to solve the crisis at a national level, which will decide on whether the Spanish fishing fleet returns to sea or continues the stoppage.
The strike has been caused by the increase in the price of diesel, which accounts for around 20-30% of the monthly cost of most boats, and which has gone from being at an average of 40-50 cents per litre ten days ago to 1.25 euro or more per litre.
The fishermen insist that they have been working at a loss for some time and have stressed that this spectacular increase in fuels as a result of the outbreak of the war caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has put the last straw and made it totally unfeasible to go fishing.
The port of Santa Pola has 36 trawler boats, 60 smaller gear boats and five deep-sea boats, whose activity hundreds of families in the town depend on.
In addition to the problem of rising fuel prices, in the fishing sector there is the reduction in fishing days decreed by the European Commission. Both factors mean that the situation has become unsustainable for the fishermen.
