LISBON, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Hundreds of truckers took part in a “go-slow” convoy along a motorway in north-central Portugal on Friday, while commuters blared their horns on Lisbon’s main bridge to protest against soaring fuel costs.
Fuel prices have reached all-time highs in Portugal due to supply disruptions related to the Iran war and refinery attacks linked to the war in Ukraine. Prices at the pump increased 24% in August year-on-year, with diesel hitting more than €2 ($2.28) per litre, according to Eurostat data.
Trucks slowly rolled along the A1 motorway in a 150-km (93-mile) convoy from Paredes in the north to the central Portuguese city of Coimbra. Demonstrators demanded eligibility for the partial refunds of the tax on petroleum products enjoyed by freight and passenger transport companies.
Video from state broadcaster RTP showed a truck leading the convoy bearing a sign reading: “Today, the trucks are stopping — but their importance isn’t.”
Speaking to reporters in Cascais, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Miguel Pinto Luz acknowledged the trucking industry had been “overlooked in some ways” in the measures taken so far to limit the impact of rising fuel prices.
He pledged to review their proposals and scheduled a meeting with the movement’s representatives at the ministry next Monday.
In Lisbon, commuters launched a honking protest at 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) while crossing the April 25 bridge, which connects the capital to the working-class outskirts on the southern bank of the Tagus river.
They called for the reinstatement of remote working — a policy temporarily applied during the COVID-19 pandemic – as well as the suspension of toll payments and the 23% value-added tax on fuel, Aristides Teixeira, spokesperson of the Ponte 25 de Abril Users’ Association, told Lusa.
The group also seeks the resignation of Environment Minister Maria Graça Carvalho over comments in which she suggested citizens drive more slowly to reduce their fuel consumption.
($1 = 0.8779 euros)
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Xevi Fontdegloria)
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