Around 500 tractors converged on Lucena, Córdoba, yesterday as protests continue against the low price of olive oil.
The protest was organised by the Unión de Pequeños Agricultores y Ganaderos (UPA) (Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers) and a rally was held in a square on the outskirts of Lucena.
The price of olive oil continues to drop but production costs are on the increase and many farmers are unable to contend with a sale price below the cost of production.
Olive oil production accounts for 30% of agricultural employment in Andalucía and is the mainstay of the economies of 300 municipalities in the region. The protestors not only want to see some sort of protection for the olive industry, but also a strategy for making it more modern, efficient and profitable.
The Unions would like to see the immediate updating or setting up of a private storage mechanism, something they believe would solve the liquidity problems of mills and cooperatives. This would stop the necessity of being forced to sell at the price offered by the industry regardless of the costs involved in production.