On the tenth day of protests by Spanish farmers and ranchers, a day defined by a meeting between the three main agricultural groups (ASAJ A, COAG, and UPA) and the minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas, in Madrid. About a dozen tractors from Extremadura and other Madrid-area towns, organized by ASAJ A, gathered in the morning outside the Ministry to demand less red tape that hinders daily work and to press on other claims, such as easing the Common Agricultural Policy, concerns about unfair competition from third-country foods, and prices below cost. In addition to clogging the city center, workers in the primary sector dumped tangerines at the port of Castellón, blocked roads in Jumilla and Yecla (in Murcia), and demonstrated in front of the Zaragoza Auditorium. Official protests were called by ASAJ A, COAG, and UPA, but smaller demonstrations also occurred in Seville, Segovia, Zamora, and Extremadura.
Planas announced the creation of a State Agency for Food Information and Control following his meeting with the agricultural groups. The move would expand resources and inspection capacity of the current Food Information and Control Agency (AICA) and strengthen coordination with the autonomous communities. He also announced the formation of an advisory council for March with the agricultural organizations and the autonomous communities to identify sectors where routine inspections should be prioritized and to publish the total accumulated penalties for serious and very serious offenses. He took the opportunity to outline proposals he would push in Brussels before the European Commission, such as cutting bureaucratic red tape and updating the European directive on unfair trade practices in agricultural and food supply chains.
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In Murcia, a slow-moving march briefly blocked traffic on the A-33 autovía in the Altiplano region (Jumilla and Yecla). The protest initially narrowed to one lane, but a short distance from Jumilla a bulldozer staged a breakdown beside a tractor, completely halting traffic in both directions. The protests were cooler than the previous day, when a group of farmers pushed a state car belonging to the regional president, Fernando López Miras, as he left the Regional Assembly. As a result, the People’s Party called for the resignation of the regional government’s delegate, Mariola Guevara, accusing her of poor management.
Another resignation request emerged as ASAJ A, COAG, and UPA urged the removal of the Palencia sub-delegate of the Government for what they called poor handling of the mobilization and intent to soften its impact. Earlier that morning, ASAJ A was also calling for the resignation of the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, due to what they described as insufficient political weight and effectiveness in leading Europe’s agro-food sector.
Low-intensity protests
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In Castellón, a group of farmers demonstrated at the port, tossing tangerines to the ground to protest third-country competition and the risk of pests and diseases entering agro-food products that do not follow Europe’s pesticide guidelines, including citrus. In response, Rubén Ibáñez, head of the Port Authority, pledged to review import subsidies for farmers from outside the European Union that are still in effect. In northern Spain, about 50 farmers gathered in front of the Zaragoza Auditorium to demand fair grain prices, coinciding with the start of the XXI National Meeting of Grain Operators. Protesters attempted to enter the conference, but the National Police blocked access.
Other mobilizations mainly affected roads in the morning but with limited incidents. In Extremadura, traffic was blocked on Ex-107 in both directions, and on the A-23 toward Teruel, with two blocks in Cuenca on the A-3 at Zafra de Záncara and on the A-31 at Pozoamargo.
Movements remained low-key in Castile and Leon. Zamora saw no protests, while León saw a march of about one hundred tractors heading toward Ponferrada, followed by a second gathering on the N-1 in Segovia in the afternoon.