“We will announce this Thursday the calendar and the type of mobilizations,
but it should resemble what you know in France
,
”
says José Maria Castilla, head of the Asaja agricultural union office in Brussels, to Le
Figaro .
Blocked sections of highways, ports and wholesale markets, the Spaniards will soon discover the capacity for action of their farmers.
The vice-secretary of the UPA union, Montse Cortiñas, predicts:
“You will not risk missing our tractors.
We will try to disturb society as little as possible, but our actions will be very visible.”
The two centers, and a third, Coag, broadcast a joint call for mobilization on Tuesday evening.
Their demands are close to those of their French or German counterparts when they concern the European Union: administrative simplification and moratorium on the adoption of new standards, guarantees of the application of mirror clauses in free trade treaties so that products imported from third countries do not distort competition.
“The fuse that ignites social conflicts is national
,” concedes José Maria Castilla, “
in France, Germany or Spain.
This is what the European Commission said.
But the Commission should not stop at a simplistic analysis.
There is also a general fed up with a normative tsunami over the past five years, and our sidelining when the new rules are drawn up.
The reasons we have in common for mobilizing are very numerous.
Those who, in the capitals, and I say this for your Prime Minister, explain that the problem comes from the common market and the Spaniards are seriously mistaken.”
“Spirit of union”
In question, the declarations, very poorly received in Spain, by Gabriel Attal, on
“unfair competition”
or
“certain products
” prohibited for use in France while
“neighboring countries”
have access to them.
Little sentences accused of adding fuel to the fire while trucks loaded with Spanish fruits and vegetables are regularly overturned at the border.
“The unions of the different Member States work in a spirit of unity
,” reacts the representative of Asaja.
We are subject to the same community rules.
Our prices are competitive for several reasons.
Agronomic conditions or temperatures are better in Spain for growing certain fruits and vegetables.
We have modernized our greenhouses which are at the cutting edge of technology in Almeria or Murcia.
As for phytosanitary products, France authorizes 87, Italy 85, Greece 39 and Spain 31. The French Prime Minister is seeking to divide the sector.
But our demands are common.”
For the UPA representative,
“the debate on salary levels is a false debate.
They are different from one country to another, but it is the same in all sectors.”
José Maria Castilla, for his part, recalls that the Spanish minimum wage has continued to increase for five years (+ 54% between 2018 and 2024).
"Unfair competition"
Among the common reasons for anger, the accumulation of standards, particularly environmental ones.
“The rules are applied with extreme rigidity,”
complains Montse Cortiñas.
We are fully aware of the complexity of climate change which risks driving us off our land or depriving us of water.
But initiatives taken outside of any dialogue provoke anger and paralysis in the sector.”
Spanish farmers are also demanding guarantees on compliance with mirror clauses in free trade treaties with third countries.
José Maria Castilla considers, for example, that neighboring Morocco can introduce products that do not respect the social or environmental obligations imposed on producers on the continent:
“We are used as a bargaining chip, sacrificed for the sake of diplomatic relations with Morocco. .
We have nothing against treaties per se.
The one with Canada is a fair deal, for example.
But we refuse unfair competition.”
Spain also has its own problems, such as the law on the value chain supposed to prevent sales at a loss but which producers consider poorly applied, measures to deal with the drought which is causing considerable losses in the sector or the soaring price of olive oil, of which Spain accounts for half of the world's production.
But sector organizations consider that the motives of transnational union prevail.
Asaja cites as proof his participation in a demonstration called this Thursday in Brussels at the initiative of his Walloon counterparts.