Tractor protest in Palma demands fair prices for farmers

Tractor protest in Palma on Saturday. | Pere Bota

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma07/03/2020 14:17

A convoy of some 200 tractors rumbled along roads in central Palma on Saturday morning as farmers carried out their protest to highlight the importance of the agricultural industry and to demand fair prices for their produce.

The tractors set off from Calle Manuel Azaña at 11.00 and headed for Passeig Born. The slogan for the protest was 'farmers and livestock breeders at their wits' end'. This situation has been brought about, they say, by years of rising production costs and frozen prices for their produce. Farms have closed as a result, with an additional negative factor being the costs associated with insularity.

Imports from outside the EU were a further target for the protest. These "destabilise" local producers. It is "time to take action" was the demand from the Asaja agricultural businesses association, the Farmers Union and the UPA association of small farmers and livestock breeders, who want government initiatives to promote consumption and to reduce the costs of production.