PP and Vox fight to capitalize on rural protests

The unrest of the countryside due to the rise in input prices, the damage caused by the drought, the competition from non-EU products or the restrictions imposed by Brussels' environmental policies has crept into the electoral struggle between the PP and Vox.

The two forces on the right are fighting to take over the flag of the defense of farmers and ranchers, in the middle of the campaign for the Galician elections of 18-F.

The popular leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has taken advantage of his parallel caravan through rural municipalities of Galicia to attack the Government, which he accuses of being “urbanite” for not defending Spanish products from the attacks of French protesters.

After the great mobilizations that have shaken Europe in recent weeks and those that are announced for the coming days in Spain, the PP gathered this Monday the regional councilors of its party with powers in the matter at the national headquarters on Génova Street. with the deputy secretary of Autonomous and Local Coordination, Elías Bendodo, and with the general secretary of training, Cuca Gamarra, to coordinate a joint response from the 12 communities where they govern.

The meeting ended with the announcement of a “shock plan” that includes 15 measures “to address the crises in the agricultural sector”, with initiatives focused on attacking the central Executive.

Vox, for its part, has reacted by announcing that on the 14th it will bring to Brussels its four regional councilors related to the countryside: that of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development of Castilla y León, Gerardo Dueñas;

that of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of Aragon, Ángel Samper;

that of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Valencian Community, José Luis Aguirre;

and the Forest Management and Rural Environment of Extremadura, Ignacio de Higuero.

In the community capital they will meet with the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Polish Janusz Wojciechowski.

Abascal's formation has an advantage, since the counselor belongs to the ultra-conservative Law and Justice party, integrated into the ECR, the parliamentary group of which Vox is a part.

According to the ultra party, the four councilors will present their allegations to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Brussels and will expose to Wojciechowski the “suffocation” suffered by the Spanish countryside.

From Galicia, Feijóo began his campaign day this Monday on a farm in Lalín, in Pontevedra, where he took advantage of the opportunity to attack the Government.

“Agrarian policy cannot be designed from an office with a view of [Madrid's] Castellana promenade, but rather by coming to the countryside and making allies of the farmers,” said the PP leader in an appearance before a field. of cultivation and a tractor.

As his predecessor Pablo Casado did during the Castilla y León election campaign two years ago, Feijóo has attributed part of the problems of the ranchers to the ministers of Pedro Sánchez - in reference to the former head of Consumption Alberto Garzón, of IU - asked to reduce meat consumption.

He has also maintained that the refusal to lower VAT on meat aggravates the situation.

“We observe that the central government dedicates little time to farmers and ranchers, it treats them with disdain,” he insisted.

“What happens in France with Spanish products is regrettable and the Government is very soft about it, also in the face of the insults from the French minister,” added Feijóo, in reference to the statements of the former minister Ségolène Royal against Spanish tomatoes with biological label.

Sánchez already responded to these criticisms last week.

A few hours later, the Popular Party announced its "shock plan" with 15 measures "to tackle the crisis in the agricultural sector", which focuses on those issues that concern the central government, avoiding confrontation with Brussels.

Among other measures, the PP asks to suspend the tax on plastic, reduce the VAT on meat and dairy products, demand the immediate payment of compensation corresponding to "products that have suffered attacks on French territory", review the law of the chain food security and the agricultural insurance plan and reform the so-called PERTE (Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation) that are financed with European funds.

Vox will go to the demonstrations

For his part, Santiago Abascal has already announced that his party will join the demonstrations called starting next week throughout Spain by the large agrarian organizations (Asaja, COAG and UPA), in the wake of the mobilizations led by their counterparts. from France, the Netherlands, Poland or Romania.

Vox shares some of the measures proposed by the PP, such as the need for a “national water pact”, which translates into a policy of transfers and interconnection of all accounts;

or the review of trade agreements with third countries, with which he wants to put a limit on the entry of Moroccan agricultural products and commit to a “food autonomy” of an autarkic nature.

However, unlike Feijóo, Abascal does not limit himself to blaming the Sánchez Government, but rather targets the EU's policies and, in particular, the "green pact" and the "globalist agenda", as he calls them. the United Nations 2030 Agenda, which includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Abascal accuses what he calls “climate fanaticism” of “condemning the countryside to death” for restricting the use of pesticides in the countryside or prohibiting animal abuse, and blames both the PSOE and the PP because, as he highlights, both parties vote together 87.6% of the time in the European Parliament;

and socialists and popular "are a coalition" in the European Commission, as recognized by the Deputy Secretary of Institutional Affairs of the PP, Esteban González Pons.

Vox has tried to capitalize on its criticism of European agricultural policy in the Galician elections, with measures such as a radical reduction in taxes or the green light for hunting wolves and wild boars, and has campaigned with its spokesperson in Brussels, the MEP Jorge Buxadé, but has stumbled with its lack of penetration in the Galician field, a fiefdom of the PP in which the Spanish-speaking candidates of the ultra party barely get an echo.

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