In a united front against the European Union’s agricultural policies, Spanish farmers have joined the widespread protests sweeping Europe.
Tractors lined highways in cities including: Seville, Toledo, Granada, Huelva, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Valencia, Malaga, Murcia, Tarragona, Lleida and Madrid, causing traffic disruptions and intermittent road closures.
Primarily through social media, Spanish farmers organized their first major demonstration, echoing the sentiments of their European counterparts.
While the protests have remained peaceful, their impact on traffic has been noticeable in an effort to draw attention to the injustices of the agricultural sector, organizers say.
Agricultural sector unions issued statements stressing the need for “flexibility in the European Union’s agricultural policies” and called for “imposing stricter restrictions and controls on products coming from outside the European Union.”
In addition, farmers called for increased aid to combat drought-related challenges, strengthening control over the food supply chain, and expanding insurance rights.
The wave of farmer protests intensified in Spain this week, which began in France and then spread to Germany, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Romania, Portugal and Greece.
Spanish farmer unions announced plans to mobilize in different cities daily, and major demonstrations are scheduled to be held in Catalonia on February 13, and the capital, Madrid, on February 21.
The demonstrators’ criticisms revolve around EU regulations linked to the Green Deal initiative and its Common Agricultural Policy.
The European Union’s “ambitious” plan in 2019 aims to achieve climate neutrality and reduce carbon emissions by 2050.
While the farmer protests, which began two weeks ago in southwestern France, indicate growing dissatisfaction among European farmers with current agricultural policies.
These protests underscore the urgent need to reevaluate and modify European Union policies, to ensure the sustainability and prosperity of the agricultural sector, according to observers.
The agricultural sector in Europe is witnessing hot days that reached their peak at the beginning of February, when hundreds of farmers demonstrated with tractors in Brussels in protest against European leaders, during a summit attended by the President of the European Commission.
Farmers use blocking roads with tractors as a main method of protest. The reasons for the protest are due to the European Union’s policies related to the agricultural sector, in addition to various local reasons. Although the local reasons are similar, these protests pose a threat to the European economy with great losses, according to observers.
