A few days before we flew to Barcelona last month to attend a wedding, international headlines filled with news that truckers had blocked roadways leading to Spain’s major cities, leaving some store shelves bare.The wildcat strike passed, and the wedding went off without a hitch. But the independent truckers’ protest — and subsequent efforts by Spanish farmers to block roadways in protest — bear testament to the pain inflicted by diesel fuel prices that have passed $8 a gallon and continue to climb. Gasoline prices in Europe are even higher, roughly 1.5 euros per liter for regular in the French countryside last month or about $8.50 a gallon. But petrol, as it's called, has always cost a lot more in Europe, in large part because of much higher taxes at the pump. That’s right, $8 a gallon. More >>>
