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Farmers continue protests this Wednesday – without the umbrella of most professional organizations – after causing road closures in almost all of Spain on Tuesday.
In Catalonia, around 1,250 tractor drivers, according to police estimates, have taken over the center of Barcelona.
There they meet with the
president
, Pere Aragonès, and the
Minister
of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, David Mascort.
In the port of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, the Police have evicted some 250 farmers concentrated in the area since the morning and a dozen police vans have blocked access to the facilities.
The protesters have caused cuts and traffic problems in eight other communities: Murcia, Extremadura, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón or Andalusia.
In Santa Fe (Granada) five people have been arrested during the protests.
Convened by social networks, farm workers ask that the requirements of European environmental policies be relaxed and that trade agreements with third countries be reformed so that they are required to have the same production conditions as community producers.
Asaja, COAG, UPA and the Union of Unions are organizing their own protests in the coming days.
PHOTO GALLERY |
Images of the protests
01:17
New day of farmers protests in several Spanish cities
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Amparo Perez
Some 1,250 tractors are in the center of Barcelona, according to the Mossos d'Esquadra
The Mossos d'Esquadra estimate that around 1,250 tractors entered the center of Barcelona this afternoon.
Some 450 of them have done so on the Meridiana, and another 800 on the Diagonal.
On Gran Vía, some of the farmers are waiting for the end of the meeting of their representatives with the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the Minister of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, David Mascort.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 17:28
Clara BlancharBarcelona
Mossos d'Esquadra vans in the Plaza Sant Jaume in Barcelona.
/ Clara Blanchar
The Mossos d'Esquadra wait in Plaza de Sant Jaume, where Aragonès' meeting with the ranchers and farmers has not yet begun.
The Plaza de Sant Jaume in Barcelona is surrounded by vans of riot police from the Mossos d'Esquadra.
People begin to gather in the square, but the bulk of those arriving in columns from the regions are concentrated on Diagonal Paseo de Gràcia and Gran Via.
The meeting of the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, with the representatives of the countryside had to begin at 4 p.m. and has not yet begun.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 17:21
Amparo PérezBarcelona
Some of the farmers from the Barcelona protest prepare food on Paseo de Gracia, this Wednesday.
/ ALBERT GARCIA
Some Barcelona protesters are considering spending the night in the capital if the negotiations do not go well
Tractors fill the Gran Vía at the height of Paseo de Gràcia and towards Paseo de Sant Joan in Barcelona.
Farmers from Vallès confirm that they are waiting for instructions to continue to other areas of the city, depending on the result of the negotiations with the
president
of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés;
and the
Minister
of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, David Mascort.
"We don't know where we are going, but if the negotiations are not satisfactory, we will sleep here, we don't know in what area, but certainly not in the Ritz," said one of the members of a group of farmers on a corner near the famous hotel.
Other groups, such as those who have traveled from Lleida and Tarragona, are rather considering returning home.
At least three hours of tractor time left to get home.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 17:13
Clara BlancharBarcelona
A scarecrow, hanging from a tractor, carries a sign that says "You want us dead and you will die of hunger", this Wednesday in Barcelona.
/C.B.
The second column of tractors arrives in the center of Barcelona
The columns of agricultural vehicles from Tarragona and Lleida that have entered Barcelona from the south have reached Passeig de Gràcia, in the center of the Catalan capital.
The tractors are parked on the central road of Diagonal.
The sides and exit circulation of the city are open to traffic.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:57
The country
The 6F platform calls on farmers and transporters on Saturday to reach the PSOE headquarters in Madrid
Platform 6F has called on farmers and ranchers to enter Madrid with tractors this Saturday, February 10, in order to reach the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz, where transporters will also be present, as announced this Wednesday.
The organization, which has presented its calendar of protests, has stressed that the joint mobilizations of farmers and transporters will begin with Madrid.
“On the 10th, transport joins to enter Madrid and the transporters are going to paralyze the markets, with an attempt to reach Ferraz,” said Xaime da Pena Gutiérrez, the legal person in charge of this platform.
They assure that they can call 5,000 truck drivers from Madrid, while they have estimated that 50,000 people will gather, of which approximately 15,000 will be ranchers and farmers, and more than 20,000 will be transporters.
“The second day of mobilizations has been a success, although the movement has relaxed,” Da Pena explained.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:56
The country
The tractors cross the center of Barcelona to applause from the citizens
Farmers enter the central Francesc Macià square in Barcelona on their tractors.
They are being received by the citizens, who applaud them and record the moment with their mobile phones.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:28
Cristina GalindoEconomy Editor at EL PAÍSMadrid
The food industry asks the Interior to take measures to guarantee transportation
The food industry has demanded this Wednesday from the Government that the rural mobilizations "do not paralyze the free movement of goods and people."
This has been conveyed by the main associations in the sector (Aecoc, ACES, Anged, Asedas and FIAB), which include manufacturers and distributors mainly in the food sector, in a statement.
“The organizations have urgently asked the Ministry of the Interior to take the necessary measures so that the transport sector can operate fluidly and with guarantees,” he said.
These companies warn that they are already suffering delays and incidents in the inputs and outputs of their distribution platforms.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:24
Amparo Perez
Tractors circulate between cars in the center of Barcelona
After entering the city of Barcelona, some of the tractors that are leading the farmers' protest are already circulating through the center of the Catalan capital among the rest of the vehicles, as this video shows.
The protesters are scheduled to meet with the president, Pere Aragonès, and the Minister of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, David Mascort.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:21
Clara BlancharBarcelona
C.B.
Curiosity and some applause at the arrival of the tractors to Barcelona
The arrival of tractors awakens curiosity in Barcelona.
Some citizens applaud and others photograph the vehicles as they pass along Gran Vía with Passeig de Gràcia, one of the nerve centers of the city.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:20
The country
The police evict one of the farmers concentrated in the port of Castellón this Wednesday.
/ EVA MANEZ / REUTERS
The police evict about 250 farmers concentrated in the port of Castellón
The National Police has evicted some 250 farmers who were concentrated in the port of Castellón this morning.
A dozen police vans have blocked access to 50 tractors to the port of the Valencian town.
There have been tense clashes but without violence.
By María Pitarch (Castellón)
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:12
Clara Blanchar
The second column of farmers enters Barcelona from the south
After the arrival of the first column, coming from the north, to the center of Barcelona, the second column, arriving from the southern regions with hundreds of tractors, enters the Catalan capital along Diagonal Avenue.
Some people greet the tractor drivers as they pass through the university area of Pedralbes, in the district of Les Corts.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:05
Javier ArroyoGranada
Five arrested in Santa Fe (Granada)
The number of people arrested by Civil Guard agents on the A-92, near the Granada municipality of Santa Fe, has increased to five.
Sources from the Government subdelegation in Granada have indicated that two of them have been arrested for crimes of attacking an agent of authority and the other three for disobedience and resistance to agents of authority.
After noon, the tension has risen in tone and a police charge has begun in which the officers have used force.
One of the farmers was carrying what appeared to be part of a metal bed base that he intended to use against the agents.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 15:54
Amparo PérezBarcelona
The farmers' demonstration reaches the center of Barcelona
Hundreds of agricultural vehicles have already arrived at the headquarters of the Department of Climate Action, in the heart of Barcelona.
Escorted by the Mossos de Esquadra, they have marched along the Gran Vía of the Catalan capital, with the doors of the tractors open and the bodies hanging out.
Some of them have climbed onto the roof of their vehicles, dancing to the rhythm of horns, which have become the soundtrack of the protests.
Some farmers have left their tractors and are heading on foot to the Plaza de Sant Jaume, the headquarters of the Generalitat.
Others head to the European Commission headquarters in Barcelona, in front of Gaudí's Casa Milá, just over a kilometer away.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 16:04
Clara BlancharBarcelona
The farmer Mauri Bosch participates in the tractor protest that heads to Barcelona this Wednesday.
One of the farmers of the protests in Catalonia: “It is not a problem of Spanish agriculture, but of European agriculture”
Mauri Bosch has been growing vegetables in Baix Llobregat, near Barcelona, since he was 14 years old.
He is now 52 years old.
“The situation in the countryside is unbearable, we cannot tolerate the
dumping
that the EU does to us.
"It is not a problem of Spanish agriculture, but of European agriculture."
On the eve of European elections, “the sector says that legislation has to be done differently, one thing is to control and another to inspect.
The countryside will not endure another mandate like this.”
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 15:44
Clara BlancharBarcelona
The tractors begin to travel along the Diagonal of Barcelona
After almost seven hours, farmers from Lleida, Tarragona and central regions are entering through Diagonal de Barcelona, the southern access to the city.
The Urban Police and Mossos d'Esquadra will allow them to circulate in the three central lanes, leaving the sides for local traffic.
The tractors enter sounding their horns, with
senyeres
(the Catalan flag) and flags of the Unió de Pagesos union.
The rest of the cars also greet them with beeps.
These columns intend to go down the same Diagonal to Passeig de Gràcia when the column from Lleida arrives.
The Mossos ask them to respect traffic lights and drive in the center lanes.
ACT.7 FEB 2024 - 15:55
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