Member Asaja continues: “If they haven’t acted before, it’s because coordinating everyone involved was difficult. Any action needed to be global, benefiting the entire industry, not just a few people.” That is the essence of the protests being described. Some groups aim to prevent exploitation while others use unrest as leverage against the central government or the ruling party. With European elections approaching next June, this pattern echoes scenarios in countries such as France and Germany where the far right is portrayed as a catalytic force behind demonstrations. A spokesman for the Unió de Pagesos, Germán Domínguez from the Baix Llobregat district near Barcelona, notes that the farmers do not want politics to steer the protests. They insist they are ordinary farmers who only want their voices heard. Roqué adds that no politician is behind the tractors that lead the mobilizations.
Unfair competition and a price crisis
Spain’s agricultural sector remains mired in a near constant price crisis, with labor shortages and the need for generational renewal complicating efforts to keep farms profitable. In recent years, demands from different administrative levels, guided by European Union rules, have made it harder to secure farm profitability. The 2030 Agenda imposes many environmental and labor standards on European producers, and some farmers argue these measures hamper competitiveness. They point to imports from non-EU countries as a contributing factor to the challenge of meeting quality, food safety, and price requirements. The concerns are echoed by Roqué, who explains the difficulties in aligning sustainability targets with market realities.
Beyond Brussels policy pressure, the grievances expressed by affected groups include issues with central and regional governance. They call for a ministry to establish clear criteria for production costs and for progress in ensuring that farm prices exceed those costs in the food chain. At the same time, they advocate for unified support that covers agricultural diesel, arguing that the current tax deduction scheme should be replaced by a downstream discount at the point of supply, similar to supports seen during the post Covid period. This change would help farmers manage input costs more transparently and consistently.
One of the most urgent Catalan concerns is the timely payment of drought-related aid for last year’s grain and forage sectors, as well as adjustments to agricultural insurance reforms to better address climate change. They also request that the government grant an indefinite moratorium on the implementation of the digital exploitation notebook and a reduction in bureaucratic burdens. The overall aim is to stabilize the economic environment for farmers while preserving the capacity to operate in a market that increasingly demands sustainable practices and resilient supply chains.