Tractor protest on the Transversal Axis against the lack of wildlife control: "They are leading us to ruin"

BarcelonaAround 350 tractors blocked the C-25 highway (the Eix Transversal) on Monday morning to protest the overpopulation of wildlife in Catalonia, in a demonstration organized by the main agricultural organizations in the region. The mobilization, which began at 9 a.m., brought farmers to the streets to demand, above all, "control of overpopulations of game animals"—especially wild boar, rabbits, roe deer, and red deer—and a "review" of the Livestock Health Service. The march was supported by Unió de Pagesos, Revolta Pagesa, Asaja, and the Plataforma Pagesos o Conejos (Farmers or Rabbits Platform).

The protest comes weeks after the first outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) was declared in Catalonia, detected in wild boar in Cerdanyola del Vallès, although so far it has not affected any pig farms. This Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed two new cases, bringing the total number of positive cases to 29, all found within the first 6 km radius, considered the high-risk area. Throughout this year, however, there have also been outbreaks of contagious nodular dermatosis —which forced the culling of cows and calves on several farms in the Empordà region— and avian flu, which started in Castile and León, but which also has affected a farm in Bellpuig d'Urgell.

Under the motto We collapsed the Transversal AxisThe tractor protest on Monday was scheduled to depart from Lleida and Mollerussa towards Cervera, and also from towns such as Almendra de Casserres (Berguedà), Santa Llogaia de Álguema (Alt Empordà), Ripoll (Ripollès), and Mollet del Vallès (Vallès Orient) towards Gurb. According to the Catalan Traffic Service, the slow-moving tractors caused traffic jams on the C-14 and N-II highways, and also on the C-25 in Vilobí d'Onyar towards Vic. Carol Aixut, the Environment Officer for Unió de Pagesos (Farmers' Union), explained that the protest was due to "the lack of consensus between the local area and the management of game animals" and criticized the Catalan Government's management to date as "nonexistent." "They are driving us to ruin, with avian flu, nodular dermatosis, African swine fever, and bluetongue, diseases brought by game animals," which have affected farm livestock, he added, in statements reported by ACN.

Aixut also pointed out that the overpopulation of wild species is also affecting crops, as the animals are "eating the trees and cereals." In fact, Ramon Boleda, a member of the Pagesos o Conills Platform, criticized the inaction of the Catalan Government and "the negligence of a completely incompetent administration," which in his particular case has forced him to uproot and replant 25 fescue trees due to the rabbit plague affecting Urgell.

Along the same lines, Pere Roqué, president of Asaja, called on political institutions to draft a hunting law that is "clear" and allows for a "balance" between wildlife and agricultural and livestock activities. Roqué argued that the regulations should include the possibility of "hunting more" by authorizing "more permits, more night vision devices, and more hunting hours and days," in order to reduce the number of wild animals, such as wild boar, which are suffering from overpopulation in many Catalan regions.

Ordeig shows "respect and empathy" towards livestock farmers

The Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, expressed "utmost respect and empathy" for the tractor protests and admitted that the management of game animals is an area where "action should have been taken a long time ago." He also maintained that the "results" will not arrive "in four days." "We must reach a turning point, yes. We will, yes," he responded. Furthermore, Ordeig is confident that the sequencing of the African swine fever strain detected in wild boars in Collserola will be completed this week and that the results will serve to "definitively rule out" the theory that the virus originated in one of the laboratories of the Animal Health Research Center. In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, Ordeig maintained that sequencing is a "laborious process" and pledged to announce the results once they are available.

What sequencing will allow is the identification of the genetic mutations behind the virus detected in Catalonia; it's like a kind of ID card that makes it unique and allows it to be compared with other circulating strains. This will make it possible to determine if the strain found in the dead wild boars matches any of those used for experimentation at the center. A European laboratory, the Ministry, and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) are participating in this stage of the investigation.

The regional minister also addressed the other disease that has alarmed Catalan livestock farmers in recent weeks: nodular dermatosis. He assured them that the first payments of aid related to this outbreak, one of the sector's key demands, will be made this week, with the remainder arriving "at the beginning of next year." "It would have been impossible to do it any faster," he asserted.