Spanish, French farmers cut border crossings ahead of EU elections

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - French and Spanish farmers joined forces to protest EU agriculture policy on Monday, cutting off traffic at key border crossings.

“The resistance begins here,” read a large banner unfurled at the protest, which involves hundreds of farmers and more than a dozen organizations.

Traffic authorities in Catalonia and the Basque Country said around noon that tractors were blocking the AP-7 and AP-8 highways, as well as several other smaller roads near the border.

The protest began at 10 a.m. local time (0800GMT) and is set to last 24 hours.

The demonstration, an echo of the intense farmers’ protests that began in February across Europe, comes less than a week ahead of EU elections.

“Things have just been getting worse lately, we need to do something now. The number of farms is dwindling. We need to save ourselves and be heard in Europe,” Martí Planas of the Revolta Pagesa platform told Catalan daily La Vanguardia.

The protestors are calling for what they call fairer market conditions, such as “mirror clauses” that make non-EU imports comply with the same production standards as in the EU and more competitive energy products.

“This is an agricultural crisis at the European level, so we are calling on all farmers, whether or not they are part of unions, to join us in blocking the borders,” said the union Unaspi, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.

Other demands include EU funds prioritizing small European farmers as opposed to multinationals and stopping “land grabbing” by big corporations.

This protest is not being backed by larger agricultural unions in Spain or Catalonia.