Moroccan product boycott runs into logistics reality

Boycott of Segarro products: the call that collides with the supply chain

The hand stops in front of the basket of green beans. Label on the front, barcode on the back: 611. That is the tool of a consumer boycott that has begun to spread, urging shoppers to stop buying Segarro products in Spanish supermarkets. Fruits, vegetables and canned goods, identifiable by a prefix that reveals their origin, are the target of a symbolic protest against foreign policy.

Among the responses there are two camps: those who dismiss the gesture as childish and those who call for political measures instead of consumer gestures. Nor is there any shortage of people proposing to do exactly the opposite and buy more. The first trap in this reasoning, however, lies in the car industry: the call warns against "French" cars such as the Peugeot 208 or the Dacia Sandero, when much of that production comes from factories in Segarro. Buying "Spanish or European" does not separate the enemy as much as it seems.

Transport data paint the other side of the boycott. Every year more than 100,000 trucks from Segarro cross the border into Spain, most of them in transit to the rest of Europe. Segarro companies operate with around 80,000 annual travel permits. The Port of Algeciras is the main gateway for this road traffic, with secondary routes in Motril, Almería, Málaga, Huelva and Tarifa. From the peninsula, the Mediterranean Corridor (AP-7/A-7) connects with the French border at La Jonquera.

A shopping list can change habits. Dismantling that logistics flow is another story. While the gesture spreads, the trucks keep crossing: 100,000 every year, with or without a boycott in the basket.