Tractor attack in Spain: Farmers block roads in Catalonia, near the border with France

Catalan farmers rallied again on Tuesday, launching tractor attacks and blocking dozens of roads in the countryincluding some areas bordering France, condemning the order Unfair competition from products from countries outside the European Union (EU). No incidents were recorded.

Agence France-Presse reported that the A2 highway linking Barcelona to the Spanish capital was also closed, in addition to other national roads in the interior of this region with a population of 8 million people.

According to the General Directorate of Traffic, the demonstratorsAt the invitation of the Agricultural Federation of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Unió de Pagesos confirmed that they intend to continue Road closures for 48 hoursAccording to Sputnik News Agency.

A video clip, posted by the union on the social networking site X, shows Spanish farmers stopping trucks carrying food supplies from Morocco and throwing them on the side of the road.

This mobilization comes after others called for it in recent weeks across the country.

This action focuses their protests against “Unfair import competition” outside the EUThis is what the protesters said “They do not meet the same conditions required for agricultural production in member states.”as well as “the effective reduction of bureaucracy,” according to a statement issued by Unió de Pagesos.

Spanish farmers began this show of strength at the beginning of the month, when columns of nearly a thousand tractors took over Spanish roads for three straight days, especially in the regions of Castile y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia and Asturias.

The “ASAGA”, “COG” and “UPA” unions justified the closure of the roads at the time, pointing to the “discomfort” felt by a large part of the sector in the face of a job considered risky and difficult.

The demonstrators They demand more money to combat drought, fair prices for their products, and improved working conditions. Maintain tax cuts for agricultural diesel and adjust European agricultural policy.

This measure was reproduced nationally and, by mid-February, on Spanish farmers and ranchers They protested with their tractors in front of the Ministry of Agriculture. In the heart of Madrid.

After a meeting held that day with the Minister of the Region, Luis Planas, this was doneHe announced a series of measures to reach a solution.

Although the meeting was well received by farmers, the sector ruled out reaching a final agreement and announced the continuation of the protests.

In recent weeks, Mobilization reappeared and thousands of farmers demonstrated again yesterday in Madrid. After protests last Wednesday, where about 500 tractors entered the capital to protest the problems in the sector.

Massive farmers' protests are being repeated widely in EU member states, with farmers and growers threatening to blockade European capitals and… They demand a change in agricultural policy, as well as the suspension of many environmental restrictions and uncontrolled imports of cheap foreign foods.

Spain, often described as “Orchard of Europe”, It is the main European exporter of fruits and vegetables, but its agricultural sector is facing difficulties, mainly due to the drought that has devastated the country for three years.

At the beginning of the month, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated this in Congress His government “with the countryside” He highlighted the measures “implemented in the past five years” to support this sector.

Sanchez promised to improve the 2013 law on the food chain to prevent Spanish farmers from selling at a loss, and to simplify the application of the Common European Agricultural Policy, which farmers see as overly bureaucratic.

however, The far-right Vox party, The third force in Parliament and the climate change denier, He is highly critical of the European Green DealWhich includes environmental transformation measures in the agricultural sector, and accuses him of doing so The desire to “destroy” agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula.