March 1, 2024 (EIRNS)—For the second day in a row, Catalan farmers have blocked the AP-7 highway. It starts at the border with France and ends at Vera in southern Spain. The farmers are protesting against competition from outside the EU. They believe that goods from non-EU countries do not have to meet the same criteria as products from the EU. On February 29, Spanish farmers were joined by French ones at the border between the two countries, for a blockade of the most important road link between both countries.
North of Girona, they dumped mounds of dirt on the road and unloaded large tractor tires and thick tree trunks, as seen on images from the RTVE television station. A parallel alternative route, National Road II, was also blocked.
Farmers’ spokespeople warned on RTVE that the action would continue until politicians agreed to their demands. Farther west near Lleida, an important west-east link, the AP-2 highway, was blocked by farmers as well. Spain’s agriculture minister and the farmers’ associations have scheduled the next round of negotiations for March 5 after weeks of nationwide protests by farmers.
There had also been protests on Mallorca, too, where trucks carrying tomatoes from Morocco destined for France and other northern European customers had been broken open on the AP-7 the previous day, with their cargo dumped on the road.
In addition to restricting imports, the farmers are demanding action against the drought, which is particularly affecting Catalonia. The regional government declared a water emergency at the beginning of February because it had been raining very little for a good 40 months. Consumption has been restricted. Farmers have been hit particularly hard, having to reduce their consumption by up to 80 percent. Apart from urgent aid, investments in tapping water resources must be made.
