Farmers lift blockades on Catalan highways after 30 hours of protest

After more than 30 hours of protest, farmers removed the blockades on the AP-7 and N-II highways in Girona after receiving new guarantees from the Catalan and Spanish governments to meet their demands.

The Catalan government has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the measures agreed last week, in particular to reduce the water restrictions imposed on agriculture due to the drought and to ease the burden of excessive bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, the Spanish government promised them a meeting with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture next week.

However, the farmers warned that if both governments did not commit to their commitment, they would continue blockades in two weeks "until necessary."

"We are leaving now, but they have already been warned that we will be following them closely. If there are no results, on the February 28 we will go back to the streets and we will be there for the necessary days, which we have already shown we can do," the spokesperson for the Farmers' Union and the Revolta Pagesa movement Jordi Ginebreda said.

The farmers blocked two of Catalonia's main roads on Wednesday morning as part of their ongoing protests against rising prices, imports from non-EU countries, violations of the law on the food chain and excessive bureaucracy.

The spokesman for the farmers' union, Narcís Poch, said today that they were negotiating simultaneously with the Catalan government and the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and that they were demanding to speak with the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, hundreds of protesters walked up and down the road eating breakfast and picking up the tents they slept in. At noon, 400 hundred farmers on the AP-7 highway ate "fideuà," a seafood dish similar to paella, for lunch while they waited for news of the negotiations.

Their tractors covered large parts of the road, making it impassable, along with several trees that they cut down and added to the pile of debris collected in the middle of the highway to prevent it from being removed from the area.

By Wednesday morning, more tractors that had gone home the night before were beginning to arrive to take part in the day's protests. "Those who left are already coming back to endure whatever it takes," Ginebreda said.

Josep Vall-Llosera, a member of Plataforma Pagesa, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that "there is a lot of unity in the sector" and that the farmers demonstrating included everyone from "large industrialists to small producers". This, Vall-Llosera added, means that "something is happening and it affects everyone.

Truck drivers feel 'hostages' of the conflict

Truck drivers have warned that they may seek "economic compensation" through the courts for losses suffered as a result of the farmers' roadblocks.

In a statement, the General Association of Professional Drivers of Catalonia (AGTC) and the employers' association Fenadismer issued an "ultimatum" to the government to unblock the highways and allow the flow of goods.

They say that they feel "hostages" of the conflict between the farmers and the government and that they live with "absolute powerlessness" because of the "constant blockades".

"This uncontrolled situation is causing the collective exhaustion of the drivers, who are once again being used as hostages in the conflict and the protests that have nothing to do with transportation, causing the loss of millions of euros every day," they said.

Farmers' protests

Farmers began protesting in Catalonia and across Europe in early February against rising prices, imports from non-EU countries, violations of the law on the food chain, and excessive bureaucracy. 

Roads across Catalonia were blocked on the first day, before one of the largest farmers' protests the country has ever seen on the second day, as thousands of agrarian workers descended upon Barcelona to bring the city to a standstill. 

Farmers reached an agreement with most political parties in the Catalan parliament to review water restrictions, cut red tape and speed up the payment of subsidies, but have said they will continue to protest until those measures are implemented. 

In the second week of protests, farmers targeted key points in the logistics network, blocking access to the Port of Tarragona, the Mercabarna wholesale market, and the AP-7 and N-II motorways.