When the city woke up, the tractor was there. This week, the wave of agricultural unrest sweeping Europe against community policies rose like smoke in the Valencian Community and Spain. In the early morning hours, access to cities is blocked, logistics platforms and ports are surrounded, and trucks enter the wide streets and political institutions of cities such as Castellón, Barcelona or Brussels.
The tractor is the power and symbol of this protest. Huge specimens, such as prehistoric animals, came from a habitat that emerged precisely to express to the urban world that it was forgotten and wronged, keeping political parties and institutions on alert due to its possible impact on the next European elections.
“In their speech there is a sense of rupture with the urban world that does not understand them or does not know the conditions in which they live,” explains Ignacio Urquizu, professor of Sociology at the Madrid Complutense and a resident of Madrid proper. Empty Spain with Alcañiz (Teruel) as mayor.
This sense of incomprehensibility is woven into the fabric of identity and is perceived in many protests in recent years: such as those in the hunting world or those in Valencia, which also emerged a year ago with a mass march in Valencia a few weeks before regional elections. the world of the bull reaffirmed as a cultural expression.
It affects the left side more
This rupture has a political impact. “It affects the left more than the right. Conservatives in both cities and towns are in favor of hunting, bullfighting, and the agricultural world… On the other hand, the left in the countryside has more empathy for these demands than the left in the city. Sumar or Podemos have little rural weight. There is no dent in the fracture on the right. It creates more difficulty for the left in speaking out. This urban/rural divide further harms the left,” thinks Urquizu.
“This is the big issue that Vox is waiting to get back the lost votes,” explains Anna López Ortega, PhD in Political Science. «It was not a coincidence that the Ministries of Agriculture were chosen in agreement with the PP governments. Just browse through the programmes, events and campaign posters from 2019. The message from 23J sums it up: ‘Vote for Campo’,” says López Ortega.
This is one of the consensuses left behind by the wave of rural anger in Europe: the fear of a legitimate and well-founded unrest being instrumentalized by extremist and anti-European positions. In an environment where there is a fierce struggle for conservative space between the PP and Vox and Abascal’s party is in decline, the extremist formation is playing its cards as the main interlocutor of the rural world before the European institutions. This will be evident at the meeting of Vox’s four field consultants in autonomous governments (Castilla y León, Aragón, Valencian Community and Extremadura) in Brussels on the 14th with Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Janusz Wojciechowski. Presenting the main demands of the Spanish primary sector.
“This is nothing new in the global strategies of the far right. Vox copied Le Pen (leader of the historic French National Front) because she knew the countryside was a constituency to be exploited. Abascal was the only person to attend Asaja’s big show in Madrid last year. “Vox recruited members from agricultural organizations and livestock associations, as well as from the world of bullfighting, such as Valencia Vicente Barrera,” adds López Ortega. Among the CIS data in which Santiago Abascal received the best marks are farmers.
Everyone agrees on this. Despite the inequality of demands from the European sphere, the diversity of interests between regions and countries, and even the different ideological coordinates in approaching the future of agriculture, this widespread protest has a common element: the risk of instrumentalization.
WhatsApp revolt
On the one hand, Brussels and excessive bureaucracy; On the other hand, the 2030 Agenda and its impact on agriculture. These are two of the scapegoats of far-right parties. They also appear on most of the banners hung on tractors these days.
One of the agricultural platforms that emerged spontaneously in this wave of unrest used exactly these statements in a manifesto. The posts of the 6F platform, which emerged via WhatsApp groups, contain a cocktail of extreme positions, from the repeal of the European Green Pact to the removal of national laws to the elimination of subsidies and public support for agricultural organisations. Many followed them out of fatigue, without waiting for the protest calendar prepared by traditional organizations.
Precisely regarding the latter, Antonio Ariño, professor of Sociology at the University of Valencia, points out another feature of this widespread and transversal wave of agrarian unrest: a crisis of representation. «We are talking about producers who are formally integrated into large representative organizations where they do not feel that they are not represented. “What we’re seeing is that they feel unrepresented by those who are negotiating with the Department.” And he adds: “There is social unrest right now with no political representation, and Vox is trying to capitalize on that because there are definitely channels of influence there.”
As happened a year ago with the emergence of a new platform of alternative transporters led by Manuel Hernández, Manolín, this time one of the faces of the agrarian protest is the Valencian Lola Guzmán, who has attended events with Vox in the past. Both are foreign to traditional organizations.
Institutions’ response
Apart from these conditions, it is also clear that the institutions took notice: Macron presented a strong package of measures and von der Leyen announced, among other measures, the withdrawal of the Commission plan. Reducing pesticides by 50%. Context is important, 150 days before an election in which much unrest has coalesced, the European model is in danger and the far right has started with good prospects.
“The results will be worrying. It is expected to have a significant presence in France, Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe. Many moderate people, from social democracy to classical conservatism, will not go to vote,” warns Vicente Pallardó, professor at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Valencia. .
Source: Informacion
James Sean is a writer for “Social Bites”. He covers a wide range of topics, bringing the latest news and developments to his readers. With a keen sense of what’s important and a passion for writing, James delivers unique and insightful articles that keep his readers informed and engaged.