The primary sector will join forces in the large tractor-trailer that will tour the streets of Madrid this coming Monday, coinciding with the celebration in Brussels of the European Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries. Fishing activity together with agriculture and livestock represented by the main agricultural organizations (Asaja, COAG and UPA) will walk together under the motto “The countryside demands support, respect and recognition.” This unity of action will be crowned by a nod to Madrid’s most fishing icon: During the protest, more than 1,000 squid sandwiches will be distributed free of charge to attendees.
The thousands of farmers, ranchers and representatives of all the Spanish fishing fleets will accompany on foot a caravan of tractors that will enter Madrid first thing in the morning, to travel the distance from the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture in Atocha to the headquarters of the Permanent Representation . of the European Commission in Spain, located on Paseo de la Castellana. There will be a stage in which the heads of the main agricultural organizations will intervene. Fishing will be represented by the Cepesca Employers’ Association, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds (FNCP), the Aquaculture Business Association of Spain (Apromar) and the National Federation of Provincial Associations of Retailers of Fish and Conglado Products (Fedepesca).
Specifically, the fishing will be landed in the ‘tractorada’ of Asaja, COAG and UPA with a wide representation of all the Spanish fishing fleets (Cantabrian, Mediterranean, Andalusia, Canary Islands, …), as well as aquaculture activities and retailers . or specialized trade. They will do so under the motto “For the future of fishing, aquaculture, fishmongers and the health of consumers in Spain” and, as with their counterparts in agriculture and livestock, to defend the right to the European Commission and the Government. to the decent production and distribution of basic foods.
“Environmentalist obsession” and VAT reduction
In this way, fishing activity converges with the rest of the primary sector and they take another step after explicitly supporting the claims of the Spanish countryside. In this sense, they have highlighted the similarities with the concerns of fishing, especially critical also with the environmental regulations of the European Commission, which they call “environmental obsession.” In addition to protecting against “unfair competition” from products from third countries and the persistence of other structural problems in the sector such as the lack of generational change. On the other hand, they add some concerns of their own such as the reduction in VAT on fishing products that has recently been supported by the Agriculture and Fisheries Commission of the Congress of Deputies. Along these lines, they regret the decline in fish consumption and speak of “government indifference” in this area.
