Tractor units block roads in Navarre and Alava, in protests that will be repeated this Wednesday

Just as they did in Iparralde last week, the farmers of Álava and Navarra They have joined the European protests today and have taken their tractors to the streets to denounce that their situation is “unsustainable”: they claim changes in environmental regulatory requirements and more flexibility of the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC).

Precisely, today the European Commission announced the withdrawal of the proposal for a new pesticide law, one of the main demands of the sector, and has promised that it will negotiate it with farmers.

In Navarra, and from 06:30 hours, hundreds of tractors have blocked access to Pamplona as well as other towns such as Tafalla, Tudela or Lumbier. The tractor units have had a special impact on the Pamplona Round (PA30), since agricultural vehicles have concentrated at the three access points (north, south and east) and circulate at 5km/h.

The Civil Guard has regulated traffic and has proceeded to identify some farmerssince these protests had not been communicated.

According to the Foral Police in a note, “the widespread mobilization of tractors” has had a special impact on “strategic points” of the PA30, with specific cuts at the Talluntxe (Noáin), Berriozar, Itaroa, Olaz and Artica roundabouts. In addition, incidents have been recorded in access to Tafalla (N-121), Lumbier or Estella.

Furthermore, around 6:15 p.m. the tractors arrived at the center of Pamplona. Dozens of tractors have circulated along Baja Navarra Avenue, in both directions, with the Municipal Police regulating traffic and several have also done so on Amaya and Olite streets.

The Government estimates that around 60 tractors have caused delays at the entrance to Pamplona around 6:00 p.m., which may be the ones that have slowed down the movement of cars.

The tractor units have been called by individual farmers through a WhatsApp group. According to data gathered by the Foral Police and Civil Guard, some 800 tractors have circulated on Navarrese roads. The majority have been concentrated in the Pamplona region (150 vehicles), at the Tudela access (another 130) and in Tierra Estella (130), specifically on the A-12 in Villatuerta.

In addition to those carried out early in the morning in Pamplona, ​​Estella or Tafalla, farmers had notified three protests to the Delegation of the Spanish Government in the Foral Community. These mobilizations did have authorization, having been communicated previously. The first of them left at 07:00 from Azagra to Cárcar. The second tractor unit (09:00-19:00 hours) has traveled along the Ribera from Valtierra (Los Abetos) towards Tudela. The third (08:00-20:00 hours) started from Cintruénigo and split into two, one towards Castejón and the other towards Tudela.

The unions UAGN, EHNE and UCAN have not called these mobilizations since they were in contact to agree on a joint calendar of protests in the medium term.

Questioned by the protests, the president of the Foral Government, Maria Chivitehas said he does not share the demands of the sector, two of which have to do with the powers of the Navarrese Government (return to the module tax system and the withdrawal of fines for non-compliance), although he has defended that free demonstration must be guaranteed .

500 tractors in Álava

In Alava territory, UAGA, the Alava agricultural union, has called for protests for this Tuesday and Wednesday in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The agricultural vehicles have left towns such as Salvatierra, Armiñon, Campezo or Samaniego, and have arrived in the capital of Álava between 10:00 and 11:00 hours. In Rioja Alavesa, the caravan of tractors has caused long delays on A-124. In addition, the slow circulation of agricultural vehicles has generated queues of between 2-3 kilometers at various points, such as in the A-1 near the town of Barrundia, towards Vitoria-Gasteiz, or in the vicinity of Salvatierra and Laguardia.

Some 500 tractors have gathered at the Jundiz industrial estate and have traveled through the various logistics platforms of the estate’s distribution. At the end of the caravan, the vice president of the UAGA union, Jon Morazahas warned that the agricultural sector is “tired and very annoyed” and has said that They will continue with the mobilizations if “things don’t get better.”

In the afternoon, they went out to the N-1 through the Zurbano Portal to park the tractors in the Buesa Pavilion parking lot, where they will spend the night.

This Wednesday They will leave in a caravan to the Basque Government, where the central event of the mobilization will take place, with the reading of a manifesto. Next, they will return to Jundiz to protest in front of the different logistics platforms that work there.

The Municipal Police of Vitoria-Gasteiz has warned of the possible impact on TUVISA buses during the two days.

Asked about these protests, the deputy general of Álava, Ramiro Gonzalezhas said that he “shares the concern” about the situation of the primary sector, and has agreed with the need to “reduce the bureaucratic burden” established by the CAP and with the obligation for imported products to meet the same requirements as Europeans to be able to guarantee a “level playing field”.

For its part, the Basque Government “will continue to work closely” with the primary sector to respond to its needs, despite the fact that in the Álava mobilizations “no specific request or demand has been raised” to the regional Executive, as stated your spokesperson, Bingen Zupiria.

On Friday, in Bizkaia

For their part, the agricultural unions EHNE and ENBA of Bizkaia have called a rally with tractors for the next 9th in Bilbao to demand that free trade agreements be ended and fair prices be guaranteed for farmers.

Both unions will meet today in Abadiño to concentrate the mobilizations although they have already announced the schedules for Friday’s tractor demonstrations. They will depart from various points in Bizkaia towards the capital. Specifically, they will do so from the Carranza Valley (from the Cooperativa, 06:30 hours), Gernika (Eroski, 07:00 hours), Mungia (Cooperative, 08:00 hours), Duranguesado (Eroski de Matiena, 08:00 hours hours), Markina (“Praue”, 07:00 hours) and Erandio (Makro de Asua, 08:15 hours).

For now, Gipuzkoa It is the only territory that does not contemplate mobilizations. As explained by the member of ENBA, Xabier Iraola, to Euskadi Irratia, the Gipuzkoan farmers have decided not to call protests, “although the easiest thing for us to do was to ride the wave.” He has argued that the crisis they are suffering is “so deep and with so many edges” that they did not want the tractor units to become “an exhaust pipe, and then return home with frustration.”