An estimated 11'000 people 12'000 according to the organisers and 10'000 according to the police - staged a demo through the streets of Valencia, defending the citrus fruit sector and calling on the United States to lift its ban on the export of clementines. The ban was imposed following the alleged appearance of the Mediterranean fly, but inspectors sent to the US by Spain's ministry of agriculture found no larvae, dead or alive, in the fruit. The demo was attended by fruit farmers, representatives of the Valencian government, political parties, unions and various organisations. They marched through the central streets with Mayor of Valencia Rita Bareberá and Valencian agriculture minister Maria Angels Ramón-Llin at the head, together with Joan Brusca, the secretary general of La Unió-COAG. Brusca described the demo as a complete success as it managed to bring together representatives from all sectors. He added that Valencian government leader Eduardo Zaplana, who also expressed his support for the march, would be asked to denounce the situation to the European Union if a solution is not forthcoming over the next few days. Cristóbal Aguado, the secretary general of AVA-Asaja said that while the US continued its ban, we should boycott their products. The boycott has already started, with California walnuts, he said, as we understand that that is where the lobby against our interests comes from. He said that not everybody had been able to attend the march, as work in the fields had to continue, particularly now that the weather is unfavourable. He said many thousands of tons of fruit had been lost and if it rains any more, even more fruit will be spoiled. The agriculture minister said that the government was trying to find a solution to the problem through dialogue, but said that other measures were being studied.
Valencian fruit growers protest at US ban