As farmer demonstrations in Spain went into their third day on Friday, protesters have accused the government of illegally impeding their movement.
Country-wide protests by farmers driving their tractors into cities started on Wednesday, February 6th. Farmers blocked traffic and gathered outside government buildings in major cities, including numerous provincial capitals. State security forces in many places prevented demonstrations, with “express orders to impose high fines,” according to El Mundo.
The largest demonstration took place In Barcelona, Spain’s second city and an important port, where about two thousand tractors blocked the highways into the Catalan capital throughout the day. Regional president Pere Aragonès met with farmers together with his minister of climate action for 90 minutes to hear their demands.
In addition to demanding lighter bureaucracy, fair prices, and an end to imports from competitors outside the EU, farmers are calling for an end to the UN’s 2030 Agenda and the EU’s Green Deal.
Various independent ‘platforms’ outside the established farmers’ groups have initiated demonstrations, some of which have also been supported by the country’s major farmers’ associations. The ‘platform’ 6F is calling farmers to converge on Madrid with their tractors this weekend, the final destination being the headquarters of the ruling socialist party, Partido Socialist Obrero Español (PSOE). Organizers hope to be joined by 5,000 truck drivers and potentially even representatives for the fishing industry, for an estimated total of at least 50,000.
While Friday saw farmers continue to slow traffic on roads in and around cities in Spain, those gathered in Valladolid complained to news site La Gaceta that police had tried to prevent farmers from protesting with their tractors.
“There are people who have not been allowed to open their warehouses and others who have been prohibited from driving on the roads, stopping their passage by laying down spikes,” according to farmer Juan Adaliat. Others at the protest lodged similar complaints.
In the province of Extremadura, farmers were not dissuaded by an announcement from the mayor of the town of Mérida that he intends to fine farmers who block traffic. Juan Torres, one of the participants, told La Gaceta,
So we have come to give him [Mayor Antonio Rodríguez Osuna] his due and show him that we are also united …. And we are not from any association, from anything, nor do we come with any flag, we are just farmers and workers.
Another farmer said of potential heavy fines for blocking traffic, they might as well protest now because
If they don’t punish us for protesting, [they’ll punish us] in a couple of years for driving our diesel tractors … As that famous phrase says ‘you will have nothing and you will be happy,’ that is what they are looking for.
