Juan Manuel Espinosa transports 30,000 litres of the finest olive oil

Spring in Spain means rain, night frosts and morning mist. The mercury reluctantly creeps over the five degree mark, no sign of Mediterranean cheerfulness. Admittedly, inland Andalusia is quite a distance from the Mediterranean.

This results in plenty of obstacles. In plain language: the 375 kW of Juan Manuel Espinosa's freshly cleaned Actros 1851 is currently really needed, as there are some serious inclines. Luckily, motorway 4 has three lanes so other vehicles can overtake safely. Close to the top, Predictive Powertrain Control curbs the fuel supply as the system knows what is coming - the next decline. The speedometer quickly reaches 60, 70 and 80 again, and Juan Manuel reaches for the right-hand steering-column lever, allowing the retarder to work more against the speed – up ahead a car has broken down, blocking a lane.

"Marina" is written on the cab in silver lettering - Juan Manuel's mother's name. Pale quilted leather seats with black sides, matching floor covering with the big star on it - there is no doubt that this is a comfort zone and shoes-off area. Above the two-way radio, two pictures of saints watch over Juan Manuel and his father Antonio, beside them a calendar with a monthly view. "I have known ever since I was twelve that I wanted to be a lorry driver. From that point on, I travelled with him as often as possible," says Juan Manuel.

Fastidious cleaning after the trip.

Not only trip planning and life in the cab, he also picked up all the other work over these years - manoeuvring, hitching and unhitching, the fastidious cleaning of the semitrailer after each trip, regardless of what was transported. The Espinosas often bring milk, liquid chocolate, orange juice concentrate or wine with them on the way back.

Although looking out of the windscreen over the panorama of the Castilla-La Mancha region tells us that there is plenty of wine in Spain too - here grapevines have replaced the olive trees, not just a few but as far as the eye can see.

The rugged mountains have now given way to gentle hills. Sweeping curves across the country form the Autovía del Sur, which has brought Andalusia so much closer to Europe. The Actros makes its way at 1,200 revolutions per minute and Juan Manuel smiles - this kind of driving is fun after the tiring morning.

It helps that the concept of traffic density seems to be from another world. It is only just possible to see the next lorry up ahead and a glance in the rear-view mirror shows, beyond the dark-blue cab and the shiny silver semitrailer, one other tractor/semitrailer combination travelling in the same direction. The oncoming lane tells the same story with the odd car scattered in between - conditions that should make for deep relaxation. Yet Juan Manuel is wide awake and just a moment later quickly steers to avoid a dog crossing the motorway clutching a rabbit. "There are always reasons to stay attentive," he comments.

– Actros driver Juan Manuel Espinosa

The gusts of wind are a distant memory the following morning. Lead grey and virtually motionless, the Mediterranean lies to the right of the motorway. Good news: this means a quiet crossing. In Barcelona he has to take the ferry to Genoa.

He drove as far as Tarragona last night, fully refuelled the lorry one more time and then had a full eleven hour break. Back on the road, it is quickly evident that he is approaching the metropolis of Barcelona: The morning rush-hour traffic has nothing at all in common with yesterday's motorway driving.

It doesn't matter though, as Juan Manuel has allowed enough time and in the end he waits about an hour and a half at the terminal before things gradually move towards the ferry. "It helps to be patient here," he says while waiting, grabs a cloth and cleans the floor of the cab. It is not really possible that the tiniest crumb or piece of dust could have ended up here, Juan Manuel is so careful with his vehicle. That's the way things are in the food industry, where tractor units and semitrailers compete to see which is shiniest - from the inside and the outside.

Photos: Sebastian Vollmert
Video: Martin Schneider-Lau