The environment alone seems not to be enough. The Minister for Climate Action and Rural Environment, David Mascort, and representatives of the Catalan agricultural sector have reached an agreement to change the name of the department and add Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing to it, without losing Climate Action. However, the Government will not be the one to change the number directly. Mascort explained at the end of the meeting with the farmers, which lasted more than four hours, that he will present a resolution proposal in the monographic debate next week to make the modification effective. The Climate Action number for the ministry was a bet by the Prime Minister, Pere Aragonès, to put the fight against climate change at the center.
The department has accepted practically all the demands of the field, which this morning has kept a dozen roads in Catalonia closed, including the AP-7 near Pontós. On this highway, farmers have even planted a pine tree (literally, not figuratively) in the middle of the road, next to a sign against the 2030 Agenda. Assemblies are currently being held to decide whether to lift the blockades, that have lasted all week with serious effects on traffic, mainly goods. During these days there have been some looting of trucks claiming that they were transporting non-EU products.
Another of the farmers’ demands, which the councilor has assumed, is to “reorganize” the Water Supply area of ??the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), led by Jordi Molist. The farmers are calling for his dismissal, although Mascort has refused to talk about dismissals. He has not agreed, however, to fire the director of the ACA, Samuel Reyes, something that organizations in the agricultural sector also requested. “We must work so that the ACA has more sensitivity towards agriculture and livestock. The agricultural platform is committed to making a proposal to expand the representation of the primary sector on the board of directors of the ACA,” said Mascort.
In addition, it has announced a new “minimum” aid of 200 euros per hectare in irrigated areas where it has not been possible to irrigate. On the other hand, the representatives of the four farmers’ entities that participated in the meeting – Unió de Pagesos, Jarc, FCAC and Revolta Pagesa – will participate in the Agrarian Policy debate next week in Parliament.
