The tractors have a particular impact on the Pamplona ring road (PA30) and changes have also been registered in the accesses to Tafalla, Lumbier or Estella. Navarrese farmers protest outside the unions. In Álava, UAGA has called for mobilizations today and tomorrow.
Just like last week in Iparralde, the farmers of Hego Euskal Herria will from today join the European protests and take to the streets with their tractors to denounce that their situation is “unsustainable”: they will demand changes in environmental regulatory requirements and more flexibility of the common agricultural policy (PAC).
There is currently no unitary call. The UAGA, the Alava agricultural union, has announced its protest for February 6 and 7 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, while EHNE and ENBA have planned a tractor rally for Friday, February 9 in Bilbao. In turn, three trekkers, called by individual farmers through a WhatsApp group, will explore different parts of the area today.
In a statement, UAGA explained that a tractor will enter the country next Tuesday Alava capital between 10am and 11am, meeting at the Jundiz industrial estate. They will spend the night in a parking lot on the outskirts of the capital before leaving in a caravan on Wednesday morning for the Basque government, where the central event of the mobilization will take place, with the reading of a manifesto. They then return to Jundiz to protest in front of the various logistics platforms operating there.
Similarly, three tractor groups, convened by individual farmers through a WhatsApp group, will visit different points Navarre. One of the marches departs from the Azagra area towards Cárcar, another from the Valtierra area towards Tudela and the third from Cintruénigo towards Castejón and Tudela. It is estimated that approximately 300 tractors can participate. UAGN, EHNE and UCAN do not participate in these mobilizations, entities that, as they have confirmed, are in contact to organize a joint protest calendar in the medium term.
For their part, the agricultural unions EHNE and ENBA from Bizkaia have organized a rally with tractors for the next 9th in Bilbao to demand an end to the free trade agreements and the guarantee of fair prices for the baserritarras. In a joint statement, both factories call for a tractor to be concentrated in the Arenal of Bilbao, after the abandonment of vehicles from different regions.
The unions demand flexibility and simplification of the current CAP, as well as a ban on unfair practices on the international market. In this sense, they demand the immediate cessation of negotiations on free trade agreements, such as Mercosur.
At the moment, Gipuzkoa is the only area not considering mobilizations.
On the other hand, the National Platform for the Defense of the Transport Sectorwhich unites thousands of independent road hauliers and SMEs, has decided to join the farmers’ protests in calling for a indefinite unemployment from next Saturday. It is the same platform that – despite not having the support of the employers’ organizations that unite the major companies in the sector – already promoted a twenty-day strike in March 2022 that brought the Spanish state’s distribution chain under control.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
