Workers from the Huelva shipyard Astilleros de Huelva, and its two sister companies, Nueva Lima and Instalaciones Industriales Navales de Huelva (IINH), built blockades on two bridges this morning, cutting off access to the city of Huelva from the western coast as a protest over the employment situation.
 
The blockade, which began at 7.30am, blocked the bridges in both directions, preventing people from either entering or leaving the city via this route.The blockade was then removed at 8.30am, just like last week, when only the roads into the city were blocked.

Police warned that the blockade had caused 2km tailbacks on the A-497 and that a number of diversions had been set up around the city to avoid a huge build-up of traffic in the bridge area.

The shipyard workers warned last week that they would step up their protests in order to resolve their dire employment situation.  The workers are demanding a medium-term viability plan from both their employers and the regional government (Junta de Andalucía) which will guarantee shipyard activity and the work that it generates. 

In the short term, they are also demanding government help to enable their employers to carry on construction work that has begun on two ships, but which has been abandoned because of the shipowner's financial problems.  This work would generate employment for a year.