Farmer protests collapse roads throughout Spain and block logistics points in Malaga, Valladolid and Zaragoza

Farmers took to the roads this Tuesday in much of Spain to denounce the difficulties that the sector is going through, suffocated by European bureaucracy and the increase in production costs due to the drought and the war in Ukraine.. The tractor units have followed one another throughout the Spanish geography, causing incidents in traffic.. The protests, most of them organized through social networks and without an official call, have managed to block access to distribution centers such as Mercaolid or the port of Malaga in what has been the largest agricultural mobilization in Spain to date. after the wave of protests experienced in Europe over the last week.

The tractor drives have started early in the morning. One of the first points to register incidents has been Zaragoza. The protests have blocked access to the Mercazaragoza logistics center at dawn, affecting some merchants who have been trapped between the stopped tractors and trucks.. Added to this concentration were traffic jams on several roads, including the A-2 towards Madrid.

The Northeast highway has been the scene of agricultural mobilizations also in Catalonia -especially in Fondarella (Lleida), where farmers have decided to maintain the concentration throughout the night-. In the community chaired by Pere Aragonès, slow tractor marches and traffic cuts have taken place, forcing traffic to be interrupted on the AP-7 and on the border with Andorra for more than seven hours, and the protests are far from being extinguished. , since farmers have been scheduled to travel from various points in the region to Barcelona this Wednesday.

Those attending the protests have demanded aid to improve the competitiveness of the sector, energy bonuses and “reciprocity” when importing goods from countries outside the European Union, as well as the simplification of procedures to access the benefits of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). These demands have been the general tone of all the mobilizations, although in Catalonia farmers have also asked for the review of the measures recently adopted to deal with the drought.

In the center of the peninsula, tractor convoys have also hindered traffic on the A-4 near Madridejos (Toledo) towards Madrid.. This has not been the only area bordering the capital affected. The closure of the A-42 has caused the interruption of traffic near Veredilla (Madrid). Traffic difficulties have been repeated on the A-5 and A-3, with heavy traffic jams near Villarejo de Salvanés (Madrid).

The protests have not only affected road traffic, but also the activity of logistics centers in Malaga and Valladolid.. In the capital of the Costa del Sol, around 200 tractors have blocked the entry and exit of goods at the port, which has forced the Local Police to redirect traffic and recommend the use of public transport. Those in Malaga have not been the only protests in Andalusia, there have also been cuts and important delays on the A-4, in the vicinity of Despeñaperros, as well as throughout the provinces of Jaén and Cádiz. Unlike what happened in Malaga, the farmers have not managed to reach the port of Algeciras.

On the other hand, in Castilla y León, the blockade of Mercaolid, the main wholesale market in the northwest of the peninsula, has been successful.. The protests in the Castilian-Leonese capital have resulted in a farmer being arrested for attacking a police officer and have managed to block the A-62 highway in both directions. The community chaired by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco was the only one in which there was a protest formally called by Unión de Uniones, although it was limited to the province of Burgos. This professional organization has announced another day of protests for this Wednesday in Santamaría del Páramo (León) and in the port of Castellón.

In La Rioja there has been a second arrested, the same as in the case of Valladolid, for an alleged crime of disobedience. In addition, the authorities have proceeded to identify hundreds of people for possible violations of the Citizen Security and/or Road Safety laws.

The main agricultural associations have not participated in the protests this Tuesday, but have announced their own calendar of mobilizations starting next Thursday, February 8. According to the planning of Asaja, COAG and UPA, the protests will be almost daily and will last until February 23, with protests throughout the entire Spanish geography.

The protests have been more localized in the Valencian Community, where they have been concentrated mainly in the province of Valencia, producing delays and cuts on the A-3. Traffic on Navarrese roads has also been affected, where some 500 tractors have gathered, especially in the vicinity of Tudela and Pamplona.. In the case of La Rioja, the tractor caravan has managed to access the center of Logroño, despite the fact that the protest had not been previously communicated to the Government Delegation.

Faced with the wave of mobilizations, the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM) has asked farmers to ensure that road transport does not end up being held hostage by agrarian protests. “Our sector, like the agricultural sector, is a strategic and fundamental sector to guarantee the functioning of supply chains and the well-being of the population.. Thanks to the transport of goods by road, farmers' products reach their destinations and it is not fair that we have to live in these situations,” they claimed in a statement.

This Tuesday's protests were not the first agrarian protests experienced in Spain after the mobilization of the countryside in Europe last week, although they were the largest.. The Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, assured in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that the Executive “understands the concerns of the primary sector” and has conveyed its “most absolute support” to the farmers.. Despite criticism from the PP, which attributes the protests to the “inaction” of the Executive, the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, has reiterated the message of support for the countryside from the Senate. “We are always with our hand outstretched and willing to look for solutions,” he expressed.