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PROTESTS

Farmers’ protests snarl traffic in southern Spain

Spanish farmers kept up their protests over the sector's troubles on Wednesday, with tractors blocking roads notably in the south where they disrupted the first stage of a cycling race.

Farmers' protests snarl traffic in southern Spain
Farmers' protests snarl traffic in southern Spain. Photo: PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP

Farmers in yellow hi-vis vests and tractors driving at snail’s pace were slowing traffic along around a dozen roads across Spain without causing any major incidents, the DGT traffic authority said.

Most of the protests were in the south, around Granada, Málaga, Sevilla and Jaén where the main roads were blocked during the morning. 

In Antequera near Málaga, farmers blocked the A92 leading to Seville, according to an AFPTV reporter.

READ ALSO – EXPLAINED: Why are farmers in Spain protesting?

Organisers of the five-day Ruta del Sol cycling race said they were forced to postpone the 162-kilometre (100-mile) opening stage because there were not enough police to secure the route due to the farmers’ protests.

In the northeastern Catalonia region near the border with France, around 100 tractors blocked parts of the AP-7 highway linking the two countries as they had done on Tuesday.

Other protests blocked traffic around Valladolid in the northwest, Toledo south of Madrid and Teruel in the east, the DGT said.

Angry farmers have been protesting across Europe over rising costs, high fuel prices, bureaucracy and the environmental requirements in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its forthcoming “Green Deal”.

Spanish farmers are also protesting low prices for their produce and the lack of financial aid to the sector.

Agriculture Minister Luis Planas was to hold talks on Wednesday with players in the food supply chain and was set to meet with Spain’s main agricultural unions, Asaja, COAG and UPA, on Thursday.

The unions are planning a huge rally in front of the agriculture ministry on February 21st, and will rally again in Madrid on February 26th to coincide with the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels.

In their statement, the unions urged European ministers to “act urgently to push through reforms in the food chain, to advance commercial agreements with third countries, to simplify red tape and to build flexibility into the CAP”.

Often referred to as Europe’s vegetable garden, Spain is one of the bloc’s leading producers of salad, fruit and vegetables but its farms have suffered from a long-running drought in the Iberian Peninsula for the past three years.

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TOURISM

Granada and Mallorca pile more pressure on Spain’s mass tourism problem

Spain's anti-tourism protests continued over the weekend with locals in Granada and Mallorca taking to the streets to highlight the negative impact on rental markets and local environments.

Granada and Mallorca pile more pressure on Spain's mass tourism problem

Spain’s growing anti-tourism movement continued over the weekend, with demonstrations in Mallorca and Granada protesting the impact of mass tourism on locals.

This comes amid recent protests in Barcelona, the Canary Islands, and Madrid, among many other Spanish cities. In several parts of the country local governments have brought in limits on tourist rentals, something many feel inflates the rental market and prices locals out of their own neighbourhoods.

READ ALSO: ‘It kills the city’: Barcelona’s youth protest against mass tourism

On Sunday Mallorca residents took to the Caló des Moro beach to protest over-tourism in the area. The demonstration, organised by the Mallorca Platja Tour movement, saw more than 300 people occupy the idyllic cove that locals claim is becoming more difficult to enjoy due to growing numbers of tourists.

Protestors had two large banners stating “Let’s occupy our beaches” and “It’s time to stop.” Caló des Moro was chosen as a symbol of an area where residents say they can’t go as it’s becoming so oversaturated with visitors, and the protest began at 8.00 a.m to anticipate the arrival of thousands of tourists who come every weekend.

For many locals, mass-tourism also presents an ecological danger with an “extreme situation” they feel the Balearic government is doing little to tackle. The town council of Santanyí, where the cove is, favours regulating the influx of tourists, and points out that the huge number of people on the beaches means that 50 kilos of sand are lost every day.

4,000 tourists visit the beach every day during the summer season, according to the local council.

Mass protests against overtourism also took place across the Balearic Islands on May 26th, showcasing locals’ intentions to continue protesting until something changes.

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’: Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

Down in southern Spain, hundreds of people also demonstrated in the Albaicín neighbourhood of Granada over the weekend, principally against tourist overcrowding in the area that complicates the day-to-day life of locals and drives up rents.

Locals complain that the famously narrow streets of Albaicín are now always packed with people, mostly tourists. “They don’t let people through, many groups come to see it,” one woman said, referring to the picturesque neighbourhood in the shadow of the Alhambra.

As many as 200 people gathered at the Mirador de San Nicolás viewing point, a popular spot for tourists in Granada due to its views of the Alhambra, under the slogan “Our neighbourhood is not a theme park, for a liveable Albaicín.”

Demonstrators also held up banners criticising the behaviour of tourists, such as “don’t take pictures of me, I’m not your postcard” and “more residents, less clients” among others.

READ ALSO: Valencia to stop issuing licences to Airbnb-style lets as rents soar past €1,000

As is the case across Spain, locals in Granada also feel that the increasing number of short-term tourist rentals in the area is causing rental prices to increase.

“It’s an uncontrolled phenomenon,” locals said, something they say has led to a decrease in the number of local people living in Albaicín.

Local resident Sergio Ayuso said “the neighbourhood has been filled with tourist accommodation. This is a blessing for the tourist agents but for the neighbourhood… it is our punishment.”

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