Wine wars at French border

Winegrowers and winemakers in the south of France have protested against the introduction of Spanish wines and have blocked trucks coming from Spain.

During the demonstration they also destroyed a shipment of tomatoes from Spain and burned several vehicle wheels.

Around 500 French winegrowers from the departments of Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales blocked the Le Perthus border crossing with Spain on Thursday to demand an end to imports. The protesters, who burned tyres at the motorway tollbooth in Le Boulou, proceeded to filter the vehicles entering from Spain and looted a truck with tomatoes, whose load they emptied on the asphalt.

Law enforcement remained at a distance without intervening, at least initially. The Prefecture (government delegation) of the Pyrenees-Orientales) explained that the winegrowers had completely closed entrance 43 of the highway in Le Boulou and had reduced the passage to two lanes at the toll, that they let light vehicles and “some trucks” circulate after filtering them. The Prefecture warned that they expected “strong slowdowns” and asked that that area be avoided.

A part of the protesters had begun their action in Narbonne, where the president of the Aude Winegrowers’ Union, Frédéric Rouanet, announced that they were going to “stop Spanish imports”, which they accuse of causing the collapse of many farms in the south of France with prices much lower than theirs.

Protesters have also attacked trucks with other products from various sources, such as this Moroccan convoy of tomatoes.

Their complaints are directed in particular against the bulk wine that arrives from Spain and which in most cases is bottled in France for marketing.

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