UPDATE 1-Spanish truckers smash windscreens in fuel protest

By Andrew Hay

MADRID, June 9 (Reuters) - Spanish truck drivers began an indefinite strike over rocketing fuel prices on Monday, smashing windscreens of vehicles that crossed picket lines.

They were joined by truck drivers in neighbouring Portugal who also went on strike, while there were also protests across the border in France over the impact of the surge in oil prices to record highs of over $139 per barrel.

Spaniards fearing fuel shortages queued to fill up at petrol stations. Queues also built up outside some hypermarkets after truckers warned supermarkets would run out of goods within days.

Long lines of trucks formed at Spanish-French border crossings and television stations showed pictures of abandoned lorries with broken windscreens, lights ripped out and tyres punctured after they tried to defy the strike.

The government reported incidents at crossings in Catalonia and in the Basque Country as Spanish truckers protested alongside French drivers also demanding government action to counter a more than 20 percent rise in fuel prices this year.

Some 15 truckers stopped lorries from travelling to Spain in the French border town of Perthus but allowed smaller vehicles and buses to proceed.

Around 200 lorries also deliberately slowed traffic into the French city of Bordeaux, in a protest to demand that the government allows truckers to buy tax-free diesel at a discounted price of 0.98 euros per litre.

The Spanish strikers blockaded distribution centres and ports in their call for the government to establish a minimum haulage fee.