The rural protests reached the port of Valencia this Thursday with a rally in front of the Clock Building led by farmers’ tractors that started at eight in the morning on secondary roads without major impact on traffic, according to reports. to Europa Press sources from the Traffic Management Center (CGT). Nearly 3,000 people and 300 tractors, according to the organization, are currently gathering at the end of Puerto Avenue to make visible the protests that the primary sector is carrying out throughout this month.
After gathering at the Clock Building, they went to try to cut off the southern access, where a police device prevented their passage and there were some moments of tension. A participant has been arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of resistance and disobedience to authority, as police sources have confirmed to Europa Press.
Representatives of agricultural organizations have taken the floor to demand the review of European trade agreements with third countries, they have criticized the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the lack of reciprocity in phytosanitary products and the “ruinous prices” they offer. in the market for their products.
The president of AVA-Asaja, Cristóbal Aguado, has pointed out that Spanish farmers are blocking the Mediterranean ports “in protest at what is entering, especially by Rotterdam in the European Union, by the pests that enter us, by the unfair competition that they make us and, therefore, for the problems they put us in to receive a decent price.
Aguado has stated that the farmers “take good note” of the police actions that, as he has denounced, have prevented some of them from attending the protest, which is why he has asked for the resignation of the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé. He has criticized that Spain is “the only country in which people in their 70s and 80s have been beaten” in demonstrations.
It has also issued a “notice to sailors” to commercial chains that sell products from other countries without clarifying their origin and “confuse consumers.” “We will attack them in their stores, on their platforms, this is over,” he threatened.
Likewise, he has criticized the visit of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to Morocco “full of money to invest in agriculture” in that country. He has also criticized the “ridiculous budget” of the Department of Agriculture, which he believes should be doubled, and has asked for a modernization plan for the sector and for the Valencian orchard.
For his part, the general secretary of LA UNIÓ, Carles Peris, has described the month of February as “the marathon of agrarian mobilization” and has put the focus on the trade and distribution chains that sell foreign products in competition with the Valencians to “lower prices of origin” and “pressure politicians to have international trade agreements” with third countries, as well as in the bonuses that ports such as Valencia apply to foreign products that are already produced locally. “The enemies are not just the politicians, they are close to home,” he said.
“We have to be more aggressive in the streets, not because we want to but because if not, they don’t pay attention to us,” said Peris, before criticizing the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, announcing 284 million euros for insurance in response to the protests. agrarians that “were already in the budgets. “Valencian Minister, they say, we don’t even want you here,” he added.
During his speech, Peris urged the protesters to move to the southern access to try to cut off the passage to the Port of Valencia.
