On October 19, inappropriate scenes were seen again on a border between countries that are partners and allies. Hundreds of winegrowers from the south of France set up a barrier at the El Voló toll, the first one arriving from Spain, to filter vehicles. Their objective was trucks with Spanish products. The cargo of several of them was destroyed. One carried tomatoes and others came in bulk. This attack occurred due to the passivity of the French police. “We have nothing against the Spanish; I love Spain and its culture,” Frédéric Rouanet, president of the Aude Winegrowers' Union, insisted to this newspaper, a department with its capital in Carcassonne. “I try to control my anger, but to a certain extent. “I can’t calm everyone down all the time,” he said.
The expeditious methods of French farmers and ranchers when expressing their demands are known. This time the origin is the serious crisis that the viticulture sector is experiencing. Added to the unfavorable weather in recent years is inflation resulting from the war in Ukraine, with an increase in the costs of fuel, phytosanitary products and other factors. Added to this is the import of bulk wine, up to 50% cheaper, from Spain and Italy, destined to be bottled in France. “It's an explosive cocktail,” in Rouanet's words.
The anger of the winegrowers is directed towards the middlemen, to pressure them to raise the price they offer, something that has already begun to happen, although those who make a living from the vineyard consider that it is not enough. Days before the attack on the trucks on the highway there was a fire at the premises of an imported wine bottling company.
According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), in 2022 France imported more than 6 million hectoliters of wine. This data is paradoxical if one takes into account that, as the OIV itself announced last week, France is once again the world's leading producer, ahead of Italy.
Another recipient of the protest actions of the winegrowers is the French Government, from whom they ask for aid as generous as that received by livestock farmers and a long-term strategy to improve the irrigation structure in the southern regions, which suffer greatly. The effects of climate change have been marked, with periods of increasingly intense and prolonged heat waves. A demonstration is called in Narbonne, on November 25.
The attack on the trucks generated a formal protest from the Spanish authorities due to the seriousness of the events, the violation of free movement in the EU and the loss of confidence in the dialogue forums in the agricultural field that they maintain. both countries, including in the wine sector. According to diplomatic sources, the French Ministry of Agriculture apologized and had “words of dismay” for what happened.
The prefecture of Perpignan avoided justifying police inaction and explained to Dinero that the Gendarmerie organized “a light device” to be able to react quickly to a demonstration that had not been previously announced and its itinerary was unknown. A spokeswoman recalled that the prefect went to El Voló, spoke with the winegrowers and then they left the place. “Thanks to the joint action of the security forces and firefighters, no victims were reported, despite the fact that the concentration area is extremely dangerous,” the source concluded.
The discontent of the winegrowers is nothing more than another expression of the general malaise in the French countryside, which faces several major challenges, including that of a generational change that is not guaranteed for many farms. Farmers and ranchers have been harassed for years by radical vegans and extremist environmentalists who attack them for the use of fertilizers and excessive water consumption. The fear of the anger of the countryside is one of the main reasons for the French Government's refusal to ratify the EU's free trade agreement with Mercosur, an issue that also represents a stumbling block in relations with Spain, which is in favor of implementing the agreement as soon as possible.
