Several hundred tractors took over Málaga early Tuesday February 6 morning and blocked the entrances to the capital’s port, four days after going to the European Parliament to present their demands. The demonstration by farmers, who have come from different municipalities in the Guadalhorce Valley, is causing traffic complications in the city and roads in the province.
Andalucían farmers have distanced themselves from various associations and, through social media, have decided to resume protests against the policies of the European Union and the Government regarding the European Green Deal, the use of fertilizers, zoo sanitary products, and meat consumption. They are requesting European and national authorities to increase control measures at their borders and to maintain the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Brussels reacts to the protests
The protests by farmers in several European countries have prompted the European Union to adopt a first significant decision: the President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced that she will withdraw the proposal for a new law on sustainable use of plant protection products.
From Spain, the Business Association for the Protection of Plants (Aepla), which represents the interests of the plant protection industry in Spain, has expressed its “confidence” that the new European Commission (EC) will work with “more rational criteria” after the European elections next June.
Meanwhile, in other EU countries, actions continue, with Bulgarian farmers joining in, proposing indefinite roadblocks throughout the country demanding state compensation for losses caused by the tariff-free import of Ukrainian cereals.
Political reactions
From the Government, its spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, has reiterated the Executive’s commitment to the primary sector, emphasizing that it stands “by the side” of farmers, and “we will always be protecting, accompanying, and supporting them.” In her statement after Tuesday’s Council of Ministers, she recalled that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) has just published the list of 139,756 farmholders who will be eligible for the extraordinary aid to compensate for difficulties due to drought and the war in Ukraine, amounting to 268.7 million euros.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has stated that security forces are working to ensure both the right to protest exercised by farmers on the roads and the right of all citizens to access essential services.
Meanwhile, the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP), has accused the Government of causing “ruin” to the agricultural sector due to “the ideology it sows.” And the President of the Government of Navarra, María Chivite (PSOE), has argued that the free expression of a sector whose claims, as far as Navarra is concerned, she does not share, must be guaranteed.
