Tractor protests in the Balearic Islands against European agricultural policy: "Enough is enough: this is unfair competition"

PalmNeither the cold nor the bad weather forecasts stop the farmers: they begin the tractorsMore than a hundred tractors paraded from Campos to Ariany and drove through the streets of Palma (in two separate demonstrations) to demand solutions to the current critical situation in the primary sector and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the island's countryside. Specifically, they are protesting against the Mercosur agreement They demand that all products entering the Archipelago have the same conditions as local production and that agriculture not be a bargaining chip in the European Union.

This Thursday, the agricultural sector raised its voice with various demonstrations organized by different farmers' organizations and held in several municipalities across the Balearic Islands: Ariany, Palma, and El Mercadal in Menorca. Although there were two demonstrations in Mallorca, both demanded the same thing: a common CAPLess bureaucracy, rejection of the European Union-Mercosur agreement, the need for compensation for the additional costs of insularity, and support for the agri-food industry, among others.

At 8:00 a.m. in Campos, about twenty tractors gathered from the municipality itself, as well as from Santanyí and Ses Salines. They set off towards Porreres, where they met up with their colleagues from Llucmajor and Pla de Mallorca to continue their march towards Manacor and finally end in Ariany. Among the demonstrators were farmers who, due to the age of their tractors, were unable to bring them, but this did not prevent them from participating in the protest. "We'll go by car, no problem," said one farmer.

The demonstration by farmers from Pla de Mallorca was organized by UPA-AIA Illes Balears, the Balearic Agri-food Cooperatives, and ASAJA-Balears. During the protest, Joan Company, president of ASAJA-Balears, asserted that "Mallorca's primary sector wants to guarantee its future and the food safety of consumers, so that people know what they are eating." In this regard, he added that the damage to the agricultural sector is causing and will continue to cause harm "to all of society."

Regarding the CAP, Company denounced that "it is no longer a truly common policy, it opens the door to unfair competition between member states and foresees significant cuts to the European agricultural budget, which jeopardizes the viability of many farms." Joana Mascaró, representing UPA-AIA Illes Balears, pointed out that the agreement with Mercosur will allow the entry of products that do not comply with "the most restrictive regulations in the world," the European ones, and therefore declared that "enough is enough." "Producing here is 30% more expensive than in the rest of Spain," Mascaró emphasized. She also warned that this situation is compounded by the sector's declining profitability, marked by the continuous increase in production costs, growing bureaucracy, and the additional costs stemming from insularity, such as transportation and the higher cost of inputs.

Finally, Jerónima Bonafé, president of the Agri-food Cooperatives, summarized the situation: "We will have to compete with third countries that will import products with production standards far lower than ours in terms of phytosanitary treatments, but also in working conditions and wages."

Regarding the demonstration called in Palma, the tractorcade departed from Son Fusteret shortly after 11:00 and continued to Mercapalma, stopping in front of the Agama facilities, where all local produce is sold. The objective of this stoppage at Agama's headquarters was none other than to show how the primary sector opposes the Mercosur agreement: by defending local produce. "We are not criticizing Mercapalma, but rather recognizing the fact that it is the only market for local produce in the Balearic Islands," explained the general secretary ofUnion of Pages, Sebastià Ordines.

Regarding the Mercosur agreement, Ordines emphasized his concern that countries like Brazil use up to 80% of plant protection products banned in Europe. "We don't understand how these products will be allowed here given the European regulations that are imposed on us," he stated. The representative of the Unió de Pagesos (Farmers' Union) cited the case of Xylella in Mallorca, which prevents the export of plant products to the Spanish mainland to avoid infections. Finally, the president of the Association of Organic Agricultural Production of Mallorca (Apaema), Miquel Coll, reminded everyone that the primary sector manages 80% of the land and rejected the idea that other sectors should reap the benefits of farmers' work. "If we don't want the primary sector to die, we must fight together; otherwise, we won't be able to save it," he affirmed. Coll, for his part, also rejected the agreements with Mercosur, which, he emphasized, "only favor large farms at the expense of small and medium-sized farmers, who will find it more difficult to compete."

The government supports the farmers

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, attended the tractor protest in Ariany this Thursday. During his visit to Menorca on Wednesday, he emphasized that the sector's demands "fully coincide with the Ministry's concern regarding the design of the new Common Agricultural Policy and the proposed budget cuts." In this regard, the Minister of Agriculture warned yesterday of the uncertainty generated by the new approach to European funds, which are increasingly blurred and mixed with other financial instruments, making it difficult to clearly understand what resources both the Ministry and the autonomous communities would have. Simonet explained that these concerns had already been conveyed to European institutions and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, with which the Government had been in dialogue. The minister emphasized that one of the Government's main demands had been for the new Common Agricultural Policy to explicitly recognize insularity and have an adequate budget allocation, especially in the case of Menorca. Regarding the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, he indicated that the impact on local producers should be limited and argued that the strategy involved strengthening the differentiation, quality, added value, and proximity of the Islands' products to European markets.