The agricultural organizations Asaja, COAG, and UPA have demanded authorities adopt measures against an attack produced in France on Spanish products after yesterday, some 500 French winegrowers from the departments of Aude and the Eastern Pyrenees blocked the Le Perthus border crossing with Spain demanding the end of imports of bulk wine that arrives from Spain and that in most cases is bottled in France for marketing.
Protesters burned tires at Le Boulou's highway toll booth, screened the vehicles entering from Spain, and looted a truck with tomatoes emptying its cargo on the road.
The COAG organization demanded "severe sanctions against France" in the face of the "intolerable and repeated" attacks on Spanish agricultural productions. They also stated that the "complicity of the French Government with the vandalism acts threatens the free movement of goods contained in the EU treaties."
"The real culprits are the large distribution chains, which are mainly French, as they abuse their dominant position in the market to impose prices below costs in the field," stated the secretary general of COAG, Miguel Padilla.
The organization called on the EU to "effectively and forcefully" guarantee the free circulation of Spanish fruits and vegetables in French territory and asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food to send a formal complaint to the French government for "its apathy in the face of the recurrent attacks."
The deputy secretary general of UPA, Montse Cortiñas, rejected "the intolerable attacks at the border against Spanish products in the face of the total passivity of the French security forces."
UPA stressed that this was an unfair attack on Spanish productions by French farmers that deserved "urgent condemnation from the Spanish and French governments."
On Thursday, the Spanish Confederation of Freight Transport (CETM) asked the authorities to "carry out the necessary actions" so that the perpetrators of the attacks "stop acting with total impunity."
Sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAPA) said that "the Government condemns these acts, which threaten the free movement of goods within the European Union and harm the interests of those affected."
They have stressed that they are in contact with the French authorities with the aim of restoring normalcy so that these incidents don't happen again.
Sources: efeagro.com