The power failed at 05:38 at the Vega Turia Produce Terminal in Riba-roja de Túria, as contractors cleared portable sleeping cabins from the private freight yard. A cabin being lifted by a crane snagged an overhead feeder cable, terminal manager Almas Hovland said. Refrigeration stopped across six warehouses holding 1,460 tonnes of fruit, vegetables and dairy goods.
Backup generators restored power after 86 minutes, but 74 pallets of fresh produce had warmed beyond buyers’ limits and were written off, according to a preliminary tally from the terminal. The company estimates the spoiled stock at €310,000 (about $365,000); a further €3.2 million of goods remained at risk while engineers checked the cooling systems.
- 286 drivers were ordered to leave by 06:00
- 173 lorries and 11 portable cabins were at the yard
- Power was out for 86 minutes across six warehouses
- The regional government will review the terminal’s incident report on Friday
A midnight licensing deadline
The clearance began hours after the Valencian Overnight Yard Act took effect at midnight. The regional law requires commercial yards that host drivers overnight to hold a permit, with approved toilets, washing facilities and marked access lanes; operators without one must stop overnight stays.
The yard’s application was still being assessed, according to the terminal. Valéria M. Hegedűs, who runs a small refrigerated-trucking firm and had parked at the site, said drivers were given until 06:00 to move their vehicles. “We were told to pack up while the fruit was still waiting to go out,” she said.
We were told to pack up while the fruit was still waiting to go out.
Valéria M. Hegedűs, trucking firm owner
Hegedűs said she and other drivers had used the yard because it was close to Valencia’s wholesale produce trade and let them rest between overnight deliveries. The law was intended to bring informal overnight parking sites up to basic standards, regional transport official Ernests M. Zāle said. He said the terminal had received a final compliance notice on 11 September.
Food deliveries face a delay
Hovland said the operator had arranged for the cabins to be removed before the deadline and disputed that the yard had ignored the law. “The permit process was not finished, but we had asked for a short extension and were still speaking with the authorities,” he said. The company said the crane operator was working under its instructions and that it would pay for damaged goods.
The outage delayed 38 outbound lorries scheduled to supply wholesalers, grocers and restaurant kitchens across eastern Spain, the terminal said. Some buyers switched to other suppliers, while three Valencia produce distributors reported short deliveries of leafy vegetables on Thursday morning. The Valencia regional transport ministry said it had not found evidence of a wider food shortage.
A technical review is under way to establish why the cable was not isolated before the cabins were lifted. Zāle said inspectors had visited the site and would examine the operator’s permit application separately from the incident. The regional government can suspend yard operations if it finds an immediate safety risk.
The terminal expects to restore normal dispatches by Friday, but said it would keep two warehouses closed until their cooling equipment had been checked. Drivers who left on Thursday were directed to licensed rest areas, several of which were already near capacity, according to Hegedűs. She said her firm had lost a full delivery slot and would now have to pay for an overnight space elsewhere.
