Hundreds of farmers staged a massive protest in Barcelona this Wednesday, mobilizing around 200 tractors, alongside various buses and private vehicles, to highlight what they describe as a structural crisis within Catalonia’s agricultural sector. According to the organizing body, the agricultural union Unió de Pagesos, the event drew more than 1,000 agricultural professionals from throughout the region.
The demonstrators gathered initially outside the Spanish government’s delegation in Catalonia. From there, the procession moved toward the regional Agriculture Department and the Palau de la Generalitat, which serves as the seat of the Catalan government. Raquel Serrat, the union’s national coordinator, emphasized the resolve of the participants, stating, “We are prepared not to slacken; it is time to say enough.” She noted that the industry is currently “against the ropes” due to a combination of historic drought, falling payments, and rising production costs.
The union is advocating for a shift away from temporary measures and one-off subsidies, calling instead for long-term strategies to ensure food sovereignty. Among their specific requests, the group is seeking direct aid reaching up to $18,950 for professional agricultural holdings to help mitigate the impacts of the war in the Middle East. Furthermore, the union has urged the central government in Spain to reduce taxes on agricultural diesel, lower the value-added tax on production, establish dedicated electricity tariffs for irrigation, and provide exemptions for agricultural machinery from periodic vehicle inspections. Another demand focuses on clearer food labelling to ensure consumers can easily identify product origins.
Concerns were also raised regarding alleged breaches of food-chain legislation and the influx of imports from outside the European Union that do not adhere to the same standards required of local producers. Additionally, farmers expressed anxiety over potential reductions in funding from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. While no formal meeting with authorities was scheduled prior to the protest, the Catalan Agriculture Department did offer to receive representatives from the union. Unió de Pagesos maintains that it has already presented its demands through established forums and is now expecting concrete responses from officials.
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