TRUCK DRIVERS SET UP BLOCKADES OVER HIGH PRICES

ROME, OCTOBER 21 /SRNA/ – Protests over high inflation are spreading across southern Italy, with road blockades by truck drivers disrupting supplies to numerous supermarkets.

In regions such as Apulia and Calabria, the blockades have already caused supply shortages. The protests have been organised over high fuel prices, as well as high toll charges and delays in the payment of government aid.

Main roads, including the A1 and A30 motorways, have been affected by severe traffic congestion caused by the blockades this week. Refineries and access roads to ports have also been blocked as farmers joined the protests.

The demonstrators are demanding urgent tax relief, including a full exemption from taxes on agricultural diesel, as well as concrete measures from the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni has agreed to hold talks.

The regions of Apulia and Calabria, as well as the island of Sicily, have been the hardest hit, the DPA news agency reports.

Some petrol stations have run out of petrol and diesel, while shelves in certain supermarkets are completely empty.