Farmers blocked roads across Spain for a third day in a row on Thursday to protest tough regulations and cheaper imports, with the main farmers’ unions joining the protests for the first time.
After a day in which protesters gathered in Barcelona, they were out again on Thursday with several columns of slow-moving tractors snarling traffic on roads in the eastern region of Valencia, Asturias in the north and the central region of Castilla la Mancha.
Although protests earlier this week were brought together by activists on WhatsApp, some of Thursday’s actions were organized by Spain’s three main farming unions Asaja, Coag and UPA, which highlighted the difficult and precarious nature of farm work.
“If the tractors are protesting, it’s because the farming world feels suffocated,” Asaja posted on X, in a message echoed by UPA deputy Marcos Alarcon.
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The farmers, he said, hoped that this “huge demonstration will give us significant leverage that we can use at the negotiating table.”
Union officials said the main protests were taking place in central areas such as Salamanca, Ciudad Real and Avila.
In Barcelona, nearly 1,000 tractors gathered in the city center on Wednesday with dozens of farmers staying overnight, although most left early on Thursday.
Barcelona is the capital of the drought-stricken northeastern region of Catalonia.
Some protests escalated into clashes when police intervened to remove barricades, prompting several arrests, with the interior ministry bringing to 19 the total number of people detained since the protests began.
In Ciudad Real, local media reported that hundreds of protesters dumped 25,000 liters of French wine on the street in front of the local water authority in protest of the central government’s water policies.
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Angry farmers across Europe are protesting rising costs, high fuel prices, red tape and environmental requirements in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the upcoming “Green Deal”.
“People are definitely having a hard time,” Transport Minister Oscar Puente told Antena 3 television, but if “they block roads across the country, the security forces must act.”
ANGED, the union representing Spanish supermarkets, called on the authorities to “take the necessary measures to ensure the free movement of people and goods” warning that the protests could end up having a wider economic impact.
Transport industry federation Fenadismer had said on Wednesday that 80,000 trucks were affected by the blockades at an estimated cost of 120 million euros ($129 million).
In a meeting with reporters on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said the situation was “complex” and insisted the government was ready for “dialogue” with the protesters.
In response to the protests, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pledged to simplify the rules for implementing the CAP and improve legislation so that farmers do not have to sell their produce at a loss.
Source: AFP