The Spanish Foreign Ministry has condemned the latest attack by French farmers on Spanish trucks importing produce across the border.
On Wednesday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador, issuing a statement to Paris and the European Commission following Monday’s attacks on Spanish wine tankers.
The statement accuses France of violating basic European Union rules: ‘Spain has already officially passed on its protest to the French authorities, and urges them to adopt all appropriate measures to guarantee, with absolute security, the free movement of people and goods, one of the basic principles of the European Union.’
The incident, which saw 70,000 litres of Spanish wine gushing across the French motorway, was in protest by French growers angry at cheap Spanish prices. The protestors wrote on the side of the trucks ‘wine not compliant’ in reference to Spain’s supposed weaker production regulations that allow prices to be lower.
The Spanish Federation of Freight Transportation (CETM) that protect the rights of freighters, claim the protest and subsequent attacks on the tankers were witnessed by French police and reporters who did nothing to stop the protesters.
UK based newspaper The Telegraph reported that the French region’s top state representative was filmed shortly after the tanker hijacking stating that investigations would be made into whether the Spanish wine was compliant or not. No mention was made of punishing the attackers.
Winemakers in this region of France are suspicious of the high number of Spanish and Italian imports, where they claim less red tape allows prices to be lower than homegrown produce.
This is the latest in a string of attacks by French farmers on Spanish produce, following the mass blockade last July preventing trucks getting into the country.
