Portuguese farmers used tractors to block at least three roads linking Portugal to Spain on Thursday, joining European protests focusing on a range of grievances, from cheap imports to inadequate government aid and bureaucracy.
The government announced 500 million euros in emergency aid for farmers on Wednesday to avert the mass protests that have disrupted France and Brussels, but a small group of farmers, feeling underrepresented in the public debate on the issue, contacted each other on social media and decided to take action.
Since dawn, hundreds of farmers, accompanied by tractors and other vehicles, have slowly made their way towards the four main crossing points into neighboring Spain.
National Guard traffic police said two Portuguese highways were cut in both directions near the border with Spain, at Vilar Formoso in the north and Kaya in the south, as well as a smaller national highway in the Alentejo region.
A National Guard spokesman said the protests were peaceful and did not require “the use of force” despite the siege.
“Farmers have been treated very badly in recent years in Portugal,” said José Martins, a protesting farmer in Kaya, noting the decline in support. “I don’t think this is the right way to treat people, farmers are a very big force in this country.
Farmers complained that the government was reducing support for organic and mixed farming.
“Our movement is civil and nonpartisan, and our goal is to draw attention to the sector’s problems, not to obstruct the country,” said Ricardo Estrela, who led the protests in Villar Formoso.
He added, “The aid package announced yesterday was a failed attempt to demobilize us.”
However, the country's largest agricultural union, CAP, decided not to participate in the demonstrations.
In France, where farmers have been demonstrating for weeks, the government has abandoned the gradual reduction of agricultural diesel subsidies and promised additional aid.
The protests spread to Spain, Italy and Belgium, where farmers threw eggs and stones at the European Parliament.
