Hundreds of farmers are marching towards Barcelona to demand solutions regarding the "structural crisis" in the sector

BarcelonaHundreds of farmers are marching this Wednesday towards Barcelona with their tractors and also buses and private vehicles in a demonstration to demand immediate solutions to the situation of "structural crisis" that the sector is experiencing. The demonstration, called by the Farmers' Union (Unió de Pagesos), expects to mobilize around 200 tractors coming from various points of the Catalan territory, which will concentrate in front of the headquarters of the State government Delegation, the Department of Agriculture, and the Palau de la Generalitat. It is expected that the march will mainly block a large part of Passeig de Gràcia and Via Laietana.

The earliest risers have been the farmers from the Terres de l'Ebre, who began the march at 5 in the morning from Amposta (Montsià) and Camarles (Baix Ebre). Later, the farmers and livestock breeders from the Camp de Tarragona began their journey towards the Catalan capital, leaving from Falset (Priorat) starting at 5:45 in the morning and, subsequently, from Reus (Baix Camp).

They also got up early in Oliana (Alt Urgell), Santa Llogaia d'Àlguema (Alt Empordà), and Lleida (Segrià), with tractor protests that began their journey at approximately six in the morning. Later, they were joined by tractors from the Girona regions—from Medinyà and Franciac—, other points in Tarragona—Montblanc, Vila-Rodona, and la Bisbal del Penedès—, from the Lleida plains—Fondarella and Cervera—, from Central Catalonia—Jorba—, and from the Barcelona metropolitan area—Vilafranca del Penedès, Mollet del Vallès, and Sant Vicenç dels Horts—.

Apart from Unió de Pagesos as the convening organization, the tractor protest also has the support of the Agrarian Association - Young Farmers (Asaja) of Catalonia, the Federation of Agrarian Cooperatives of Catalonia (FCAC), and the Girona and Tarragona delegations of Revolta Pagesa. The vehicles, coming from nine starting points spread throughout the country, have gathered at twelve noon at the intersection of Mallorca and Roger de Llúria streets, from where the march will begin with its final destination at Plaça Sant Jaume.

During the demonstration, the union will deliver to the administrations the demands and proposals to alleviate the "chain of crises" aggravated this 2026 by what they consider an "unstoppable" increase in costs as a result of wars, unfair competition, production disruptions due to climate change, livestock diseases, and continuous damage from wildlife.

In statements issued in recent days, Unió de Pagesos demands that the Government implement measures such as the granting of direct aid of up to 17,000 euros for professional agricultural holdings to cope with the effects derived from the crisis in the Middle East. In the same vein, the union asks the Spanish executive for professional agricultural diesel with the minimum permitted taxation, reduced VAT for agricultural production, specific electricity tariffs for irrigation, or exemption from the periodic technical vehicle inspection (ITV) for agricultural machinery, among others.

All in all, in the midst of a context also marked by the "abuses and breaches" of the food chain legislation and imports from outside the European Union that fail to meet the conditions required of local producers. The latest examples of these latter issues are the investigation of 50 contracts by the Generalitat in the wine sector for the purchase of grapes below cost price and the ban by the European Union on imports into community territory of meat or animal products from Brazil.

Added to all this is the concern of Catalan farmers regarding the design of the new European budget, which foresees a reduction in resources allocated to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and a more centralized system for distributing resources.