Rabat – About 200 farmers from the Spanish city of Almeria and representatives of fruit and vegetable companies led on Friday an agricultural strike followed by a demonstration around the port of the city.
According to local news outlet La Voz de Almeria, the agriculture professionals demanded that Spanish authorities “comply and control imports from third countries,” including Morocco, based on agreements with the European Union.
For the demonstrators, “the entry of these agricultural products contributes to the collapse of prices of the Spanish products.”
Among the demonstrators was the coordinator of the Coordination of Farmers’ and Breeders’ Organizations (COAG) in Almería, Andrés Góngora, who called for “stopping imports from countries outside the EU.”
Gongora urged the Spanish government to “implement initiatives in the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission so that the European Union modulates the extra-Community agreements.”
Antonio Navarro, the president of Asaja Almeria, echoed similar demands. He stressed, “From Asaja we do not agree with this trade agreement with Morocco, which remains unfulfilled, and we ask for a review of that agreement.”
Navarro also called on the Spanish government to clarify its position on the reportedly ruinous effect of the Morocco-Spain trade agreement on local products.
The spokeswoman of the UPA Almeria, Francisca Iglesias, said that “an agreement must be reached, but it must be respected and must have a series of conditions that so far have not been met, such as quotas, payment of tariffs and border control.”
The agrarian organizations, which planned last week’s protest and have been protesting since November 2019, added that the situation has “worsened” in recent months with an increase in production costs for Spanish farmers.
The protesters are also calling for the resignation of Spain’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Luis Planas.
This recent demonstration is not an isolated event, and has been preceded by ample Spanish outrage in the face of a flourishing Moroccan agri-buisness export sector in the EU.
The pioneering role of Spain in the field of fruit and vegetables within the EU has been getting weaker amid growing Moroccan exports to the EU.
Pricing has traditionally been the main advantage of Moroccan goods within the European market. While Spanish products were considered to be of higher quality, Moroccan products continued to attract because of their much lower prices which is sometimes up to a third lower.
Lately, however, the price difference has remained while the quality difference between Morocco and Spanish goods is almost nonexistent, according to many European consumers.
As a result, Moroccan vegetables are becoming increasingly popular in the EU, not only for budget-conscious bulk buyers, but also in the food retail sector.
