Thousands of Spanish farmers striking against the policies of Pedro Sanchez’s government and the EU authorities blocked roads leading to France on Tuesday. The greatest traffic disruptions occur in the autonomous communities of Navarre and Catalonia.
Before noon, farmers entered several dozen routes in Catalonia, blocking vehicle traffic with tractors or with tire barricades placed on the road. The A-2 motorway connecting Madrid with Barcelona, the capital of the region, is also impassable.
Large roadblocks also occur in the area of the Catalan cities of Lerida, Girona and Tarrega.
On Tuesday afternoon, traffic chaos due to agricultural protests also occurs on the roads of Navarre. Hundreds of tractors entered Pamplona, the capital of this region, paralyzing road traffic. Some farmers distribute vegetables and fruit to city residents. However, there have also been incidents of imported food being thrown from trucks on highways, e.g. tomatoes from Morocco.
Unfulfilled promises?
Spanish farmers continue their protests, despite the government’s announcement on February 14 of a plan to improve the situation in agriculture, which includes, among others, changes in regulations, resulting in reduced bureaucracy when applying for EU subsidies, agricultural fuel subsidies, support for field irrigation, as well as tightening phytosanitary requirements for non-EU products.
Demonstrators claim that they have no guarantees that the proposals presented to them by the Sanchez government will come into force. They claim that most of the promised solutions depend on the good will of the European Union authorities, whom they do not trust.
The EC is harming farmers
According to the demonstrators, the EC does too little to increase the competitiveness of EU agricultural producers. They claim that the EU authorities are harming European agriculture by implementing the so-called Green Deal, which is intended to enable the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 through a number of provisions. These changes include, among others: on reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
In a statement on Tuesday, the authorities of the leading Spanish agricultural organization, the Union of Farmers and Breeders (UUAG), wrote that neither the Spanish government nor the EU authorities “take the protesters’ demands seriously.” (PAP)
