Farmers block AP-7 highway to protest EU's Mercosur deal

The Farmers' Guild has stopped hundreds of tractors across Catalan roads on Thursday to demonstrate against the EU's Mercosur deal.

The main demonstrations happened at the AP-7 highway, in Pontós, near the Spanish-French border where dozens of tractors took over the road around 3:00 am. 

Early in the morning, some of these farmers also blocked the N-II national highway near Pontós, but then decided to lift the blockade for personal cars and just stop truck drivers.

Protesters also expressed their discontent with the expected cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) proposed by EU institutions.

Their plan is to protest indefinitely until they see that the Mercosur agreement falls through.

Aside from the N-II and the AP-7, the former blocked with hundreds of tires, farmers also halted traffic at the A-2 highway in Coll d'Ares, and the N-260 in Sort.

In the south, farmers blocked access to the Port of Tarragona.

While some demonstrators of these protests were related with the Unió de Pagesos union, the organization said that these individuals were just partaking at personal level.

Protesters claim that the Mercosur deal is bad not only for farmers but also for EU citizens, as it "disregards food security guidelines," Jordi Ginabreda, spokesperson of Girona's Farmers' Union, said.

"In Europe, we will import food prepared in Mercosur with some products that are deemed illegal in the EU," he said, giving examples of pesticides used in South America.

Ginabreda also wondered about "what are the governments that use the food and the farmers' industry as an exchange tool?"

He explained that the farmers in Catalonia are in contact with some others in Germany, Italy, and France, as "this is a protest against the EU's agriculture policies."

Tarragona farmers block port

In the south of Catalonia, around 60 tractors and cars mobilized by the Revolta Pagesa protest group blocked access to the Port of Tarragona.

The president of the Revolta Pagesa farmers' union, Joan Regolf, shared Ginabreda's message as they claim that the Mercosur deal will have consequences for consumers across the EU.

They are planning to protest and block access to the Port of Tarragona until Monday.