Farmers are starting to arrive in Barcelona with their tractors.

BarcelonaSeveral columns of tractors set off this morning from various points in Catalonia towards Barcelona, ​​where they began arriving around midday, on the second anniversary of the Revolta Pagesa (Farmers' Revolt). Their intention is to reach the Catalan Ministry of Agriculture on Gran Via in the Catalan capital to protest what they denounce as the Catalan government's failure to comply with the European Union-Mercosur agreement. The farmers, however, have ruled out blocking roads in Catalonia, aware of the mobility difficulties caused by the commuter rail crisis and the closure of the AP-7 highway. Nevertheless, their marches will further complicate traffic on roads already congested more than usual due to the train disruptions.

The first columns of protesters have already gathered, departing from Bages, Berguedà, Osona, Girona, Vallès, Amposta, Móra d'Ebre, Tarragona, and Molins de Rei. The farmers are timing their protest to coincide with the second anniversary of the historic tractor protests that blocked roads in Catalonia.

Revolta Pagesa has organized nine columns, some with cars instead of tractors, and expects to arrive around midday at the Department of Agriculture on Gran Via. The group says it wants to highlight the "key factor" of farming and livestock and also plans to provide an update on the negotiations with the Catalan government. "The government must honor its commitments," they warn. The protest is expected to last all day, and some farmers intend to spend the night in front of the Department of Agriculture. On Saturday, they have scheduled "protest and awareness-raising actions" until 2:30 p.m. The mobilization comes almost three weeks after farmers took to the roads to protest the EU-Mercosur agreement. The farmers want to recreate the scene from February 2024, when more than 2,000 tractors from across Catalonia made a slow march to Barcelona to denounce the critical situation facing the sector. During several days of protest, they blocked roads, some at the border, to demand government policy changes.