Farmers from Portugal and Spain resumed road protests on Monday, including blockades of roads connecting the two countries, manifesting dissatisfaction with the agricultural policy of national governments and actions taken by the European Union authorities.
- “Protect your own agriculture!”, “Do not touch the fields!”, “We need help!” wrote farmers from Portugal and Spain on banners attached to tractors, who blocked several dozen roads on the Iberian Peninsula on Monday afternoon.
- According to the authorities of the Citizens’ Movement of Farmers of Portugal (MCAP), which co-organizes the demonstrations in this country, farmers returned to the roads, “convening spontaneously via the Internet.”
Farmers do not believe in the government’s promises
The organization’s management explained that the protests that started on Thursday at the border crossings with Spain have been resumed because the promises of Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s government to immediately pay EUR 50 million to farmers are unfulfilled.
On the Portuguese side, farmers are blocking, among others, the route leading to the border crossing at Vilar Formoso, as well as roads in the districts of Leiria, Guarda and Viseu.
Farmers’ protests in Spain
On the Spanish side, protests are taking place on the roads around the cities of Salamanca, Zamora, Leon, and Valladolid, where over 50 tractors have blocked the city center.
The main demand of protesting farmers in Portugal and Spain is to increase financial support for farmers by national governments, as well as to reduce the costs of agricultural production, in particular reducing fuel prices.
According to the protesting farmers, it is also necessary to change the policy of the European Commission, which in their opinion favors unfair competition from producers outside the European Union.
