The Mossos d’Esquadra follow the device from Sabadell to guarantee the right to protest and circulation
The protest of the Catalan farmers does not stop. Since Tuesday morning, tractors from different parts of the territory have blocked traffic on the AP-7 and the N-2 in Alt Empordà, in the town of Pontós, and also on the A-2 and the ‘AP-2 in Soses and Tàrrega, in the Lleida area. In addition, during the day they also performed slow marches in Tarragona city. Despite the fact that the concentration in the Imperial Tarraco square in Tarragona broke up at night, the other main roads have continued to be closed, both in Girona and Lleida.
The Catalan police have set up a CECOR at the Central Complex of the Mossos d’Esquadra, Egara, in Sabadell, which was operational throughout Tuesday and will remain active until Thursday, when, for the time being, it is expected that the farmers’ mobilizations will end . However, although the most representative unions of the Catalan peasantry lead the protests, there is a diversity of voices and the Plataforma Pagesa has warned that the protest may be “indefinite” if they are not attended to. Yesterday’s meeting with Climate Action was a failure and the farmers criticize that Councilor Mascort did not appear at the meeting.
CECOR of the Mossos in Egara
The CECOR, under the command of the chief commissioner, Eduard Sallent, and with the participation of the general director of the Police, Pere Ferrer, has served to coordinate the police regions that have intervened in the device since early morning, to free the trucks who had been trapped in AP-7. At this point, yesterday, some of the moments of tension occurred, when Catalan farmers threw foreign products on the ground. At noon it was already possible to evacuate the truck drivers and the vehicles, although some had suffered damage.
From Egara, with Sallent and other heads of the general police stations involved, especially Traffic, Intervention and Information, they have followed the evolution of the cuts and have also been in contact with the regional managers of Lleida, Girona and also Camp de Tarragona . The commissioners Josep Maria Estela and Sílvia Catà, in charge of the regions of Lleida and Girona, and the intendant Vicenç Lleonart, of Camp de Tarragona, had their regional CECOR activated, but they also participated in meetings every two hours with the commissioner in chief and the chiefs of the general police stations and of the superior territorial police station, of Commissioner David Boneta.
In several areas of Egara, where the Central Command Room (SCC) is located and also the crisis room, the cameras of the helicopters, vehicles and police drones followed the detentions and detours that were made in order to guarantee the farmers’ right to protest and also guarantee the circulation of other road users. After being able to secure the area, in the early hours, the situation throughout the day was calm, with no incidents at the roadblocks, which generated kilometers of queues and also trapped cars, especially at the entrance to the country through Zaragoza.
Catalan farmers demand urgent measures for the agricultural sector
The only tense moments of the day were experienced in Camp de Tarragona, in front of the Climate Action delegation, in Tarragona, where a group of farmers entered to deliver a manifesto and outside other farmers threw tomatoes at the facade The Mossos d’Esquadra deployed public order units from the ARRO, with helmets and shields, to prevent a possible break-in at the government office, but the situation was able to be controlled.
The Catalan farmers who are on a war footing these days not only have the strength of reason, but also the physical strength that implies having managed to put dozens of heavy vehicles such as tractors on the road. A possible eviction from the AP-7 or the other blocked roads, for now, seems impossible. This Wednesday, the device that is led from Egara, with Sallent at the head, and which will rotate, above all, with the Traffic Division to try to reduce the effects on the roads as much as possible, will continue to operate. At the same time, however, the public order units of the Brimo and the ARRO will remain on alert in case it is necessary to intervene or to be able to act if there is any type of incident. UIS ambulances from the Medical Emergency System (SEM) have also been deployed in the cut-off areas.
During this Wednesday, and until the farmers are heard, they say, the AP-7 and N-2 roads in the Alt Empordà and also the AP-2 and the A-2 in the Lleida area will remain closed. in Soses and Tàrrega. Farmers are demanding urgent measures for the agricultural sector, which is suffering from a crisis of prices and profitability, and which is affected by the trade policy of the European Union and the tariffs of the United States. They also ask that the role of farmers and ranchers be recognized as key agents in the fight against climate change and the preservation of the territory.
