French farmers’ protests intensified and roads were closed at main border points. Ruining the exports of rural Alicante inside full winter vegetable and citrus season. A situation that the main organizations in the sector are already looking at with concern Asaja Alicante, and also from the provincial transportation employers association, fetramaHE advised business partners to postpone their travels He said they had to cross the neighboring country.
However, there is currently no evidence that any of the trucks attacked in recent days belong to the Alicante company, as the general secretary of Fetrama confirmed. Antonio Gabaldon, but this condemns: casualties This situation is also starting to harm companies.
“Logically, since normal circulation cannot be achieved, deadlines are getting longer Gabaldón explains what has happened in recent days and the situation that has worsened since today with the complete closure of the roads. In this sense, thanks to the Alicante transporters, we have managed to avoid the worst consequences of the protests so far, says the president of Fetrama. wander around at night.
However, some problems were also noted. “There were trucks that had to ask for help. Because the French police directed them to secondary roads and they met. the roads were very narrow to move around safely,” says the business spokesperson.
From Fetrama they gave advice to their colleagues, as did the national employers’ association postponing trips as much as possible Although they admitted that they were not very successful in their message, they said that they should surpass France. “Companies tell us they’re in the middle of high season and they cannot stop working right now,” says Antonio Gabaldón.
Vegetables and citrus fruits
The situation is also worrying among Alicante farmers, who are in the middle of the winter vegetable and vegetable production campaign and the citrus season. “At this time of year The only places in Europe where vegetables are produced are Alicante, Murcia and rural Almería.. “It’s one of the seasons when we export the most,” complains Asaja Alicante president. José Vicente AndreuThis ensures that the blockade could thwart a campaign that had “begun very well”.
Thus, in this period Vega Baja or Crops such as the following are grown in Elche’s countryside: artichoke, broccoli or cauliflower. Moreover tangerine, orange and lemon, It also has one of the main sales points in foreign markets.
Andreu points out that the severity of the situation will depend on how long it lasts. Now, there is space in the roomsSo producers can continue to collect, process and store it. Problems will arise if the road closures last for more than a week.
Famine
“The real problem will be in the Central European countries to which we send production. they will experience famine The president of Asaja Alicante, who regrets the damage that the attitude of his French colleagues will do to them, warns “turn to fresh products”.
The agriculture-food sector is It is responsible for 27% of the exports of the province of Alicante, Total sales volume is almost 1.8 billion euro between January and September last year. This total figure is approximately one fifth concentrated in January and FebruaryLocal products are very well received, as there is almost no production in the rest of the continent due to low temperatures.
Therefore, the agricultural sector is one of the main customers of the transportation fleets in the province. The total of companies in the sector provide more than 100 added value when it comes to those linked to Fetrama alone 5,500 active trucks, of which approximately 2,500 have community licences.In other words, they can carry out international transportation to Europe. Employers dare not guess how many of them are currently in France.