Spanish tomato, pepper and vegetable producers are set to stage a demonstration in Granada on 8 March to coincide with a European Union-Morocco summit in the city to protest against the new EU-Morocco agreement of association.
At a press conference this week (pictured), representatives of Spanish agricultural associations Coag, Asaja and UPA said the trade deal agreed between the two sides, which will liberalise access for Moroccan products, was “unacceptable”.
Miguel Monferrer, provincial secretary for Coag Granada, said that prices for Spanish tomatoes, peppers and vegetables were already “at rock bottom”, a situation he claimed was being exacerbated by the alleged failure of Morocco to respect import quotas.
Asaja Murcia’s secretary general, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, claimed the EU’s decision to open the market further to Moroccan products would “endanger production that is vital for Murcian agriculture, such as tomatoes and vegetables in general”.
He said the agreement was “unacceptable” for the European agriculture sector, arguing that it would bring about the “abandonment of farms and the loss of thousands of jobs”.
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