Catalan farmers' protests: Why are they demonstrating?

Filling the Sink

All across Europe, farmers are protesting, stopping traffic with their tractors to sound the alarm on what many feel is the slow death of the agricultural sector.

On February 6, Catalan farmers drove their tractors out of the fields, draped them with slogans such as “La nostra fi, la vostra fam”, or “Our end, your hunger” and marched slowly but determinedly toward Barcelona in one of the largest coordinated protests in years.

We hear from 12 farmers who took part in the protests about the disappointments, demands, and dreams of a sector that feels neglected as it deals with everything from environmental regulations to rising production costs, excessive red tape, and a lack of drought relief, just to mention a few.

Lea Beliaeva Bander is joined by Oriol Escudé Macià, who sheds light on the farmers' protests and explains what lies ahead.

This week's Catalan phrase is 'picar pedra'. Literally, 'to crush stone', it means to work hard at something without necessarily achieving a gain in the end.