A number of leading Spanish fresh produce associations have this week agreed to stage a series of protests against the country’s authorities for what they claim has been a lack of support for the multiple problems that growers are currently facing.
The announcement was made today (11 February) following a summit between officials from the Murcia, Almería and Alicante branches of Asaja (the Association of Young Farmers), held yesterday in Almería.
Poor prices for tomatoes and citrus from southern Spain, pressure from rising electricity and production costs, a shortage of water, imports from Morocco and the EU’s pesticide restrictions were all identified as key difficulties for the sector, which the groups’ claim Spain’s government is failing to tackle.
The three organisations said they had agreed to begin a “series of brief joint mobilisations” at a regional level to demand that the central government provides support for Spain’s fresh produce sector.
In a statement, the associations underlined that the agricultural sector continued to be Spain’s “economic motor” but that it was essential that the country’s government “took steps to confront the widespread crisis” that growers are currently facing.
