Hundreds Portuguese farmers joined the protest movement of their European colleagues demanding “recognition of the value” of their activity and blocked this morning several roads including two motorways towards the border with Spain.

“We are finding it very difficult to survive,” Rui Souza, 58, who participated in a gathering of dozens of farmers in Golega, in the center of the country, told AFP.

“The farmers they find it very difficult to live. They sell their products for a few cents and the shops make fortunes,” commented Ramiro Carvalho Alves, a 48-year-old builder who was blocked behind the tractors.

Around 11:00 a.m. Greek time, two highways remained blocked in both directions near the border with Spain at Vilar Formoso (north) and Elba (south), the gendarmerie said, adding that road blockades were also occurring near in Samouska and Golega, in the Santarem region (centre).

This day of mobilization started yesterday, Wednesday, with the call to “citizen mobilization by the farmers of Portugal”, presented as a spontaneous and non-partisan initiative.

“Anger is growing after the announcement of aid cuts” intended to compensate farmers for reduced production, Nuño Mager, one of the representatives of this movement, told AFP.

The initiative is not supported by the largest organization in the sector, the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers (CAP), to the extent that the latter estimates that the government has committed to review the planned cuts.

In an attempt to respond to farmers’ expectations, the government announced yesterday, Wednesday, support measures totaling approximately 500 million euros, mainly to help them cope with the effects of the drought that is particularly affecting the southern part of the country.

The measures also include a reduction in the tax on agricultural oil.

“We are waiting to see if these measures are implemented”, said Nuño Mager, who, for now, does not foresee a continuation of the farmers’ movement. “We will not do it like in France … Our actions will be peaceful,” he assured.

Despite the ‘concessions’ of Brusselswhere European leaders are meeting today, the anger of farmers in the European Union has not abated, especially in France where blockades of strategic roads are expected to continue for a fourth day.

Complexity of European legislation, very low incomes, inflation, competition from abroad mainly from Ukrainian products, fuel price spikes: the demands of the farmers in France are also answered in the majority of European countries facing the discontent of the farmers.