Police charges farmers during Pedro Sánchez's visit to Don Benito

• Referendum The steps after the Don Benito-Villanueva de la Serena merger: from the name to salary equalization

• Results The very tight 66.27% of Don Benito in favor of yes will consummate the union with Villanueva de la Serena

Riot police have carried out police charges this afternoon on dozens of farmers and ranchers who were demonstrating in

, where they had gathered after a whole day of protesting to receive the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who was visiting the town on the occasion of its merger with

approved last Sunday by the minimum through a popular consultation.

With shouts of "Pedro Sánchez, resignation", "out, out" and "scoundrel", the moments of greatest tension occurred minutes before the arrival of the President of the Government and the rest of the authorities - among them the Minister of Territorial Policy and Government spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez and the President of the Board, Guillermo Fernández Vara - in an area cordoned off by the Police with fences, which fenced the access perimeter to the Don Benito City Hall building.

In the Consistory, a meeting was organized between the President of the Government and the municipal corporation and a subsequent public appearance, where no questions were admitted, and where he only referred to the merger process between the two municipalities.

The demonstrators - who were approximately 200 in total - tried to expand the perimeter area where they were located and controlled by a police cordon, but at a certain moment there was a police charge to prevent the demonstrators from approaching the Consistory headquarters , where the farmers wanted to express their problems explicitly to the President of the Government.

Some attendees knocked down the security fences and there was pushing and hitting.

"They cannot treat us like this because we are only on the street, which belongs to everyone, and we want to try to expose our problems to them, because we have also been in Madrid recently and they have not received us either," stressed the president of Apag Extremedura Asaja,

.

Extremaduran farmers and ranchers, under the slogan 'In Defense of our Countryside, had gathered since early in the morning in the Las Vegas Altas region to protest the problems they have been experiencing, such as high production costs, drought and what they considered to be poor conditions for the next PAC aid, but Sánchez's 'surprise' visit - which was announced first thing in the morning - made them change their plans and extend the protests that were going to last all morning until the arrival of Sánchez, scheduled for the afternoon.

The protest had blocked the N430 and EXA2 highways for hours and both the security team and the press of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, were trapped in them in the morning, despite the fact that Civil Guard agents tried to allow them to step;

however, the agrarian leaders did not agree, so they were held, like the rest of the drivers, for quite some time until the rally ended and they were able to continue their journey from Madrid to this Badajoz region.

Specifically, according to what Canal Extremadura reported, there were four sedan vehicles with part of the president's security and communication team and two vans with police officers. The cut was authorized by the Government Delegation on the N-430, but part of The demonstrators also invaded the EX-A2 motorway, where Sánchez's advisers and security team were trapped.

The Government delegate in Extremadura,

, had warned the demonstrators during the morning, during a public appearance, that they had "to comply with the resolutions to guarantee the safety of the demonstrators and drivers".

Taking advantage of the "surprise" visit of the President of the Government, the demonstrators decided to move their protests to the city of Don Benito, a town that the President of the Government planned to visit after a first stop in Villanueva de la Serena, where he also held a meeting with the municipal corporation.

Thus, the farmers and ranchers first concentrated on the FEVAL facilities (the Don Benito Trade Fair), where incidents already occurred two years ago during the visit of the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, also with police charges, and from There, after parking their vehicles and tractors, they set out on foot until they reached the center of Don Benito, where the incidents occurred.

The demonstration was organized by

or the

, but neither

nor

it. .

Farmers in this area put their losses at more than 200 million euros.

The merger, a "huge example"

In the Plenary Hall of the City Council of Don Benito, Pedro Sánchez, highlighted in his appearance the "enormous example" that these two localities have transferred to the "citizens as a whole and, singularly, to Spanish politics" with the municipal merger project from both locations.

The President of the Government valued the exemplary role shown by the municipal groups of both consistories for putting "the general interest before any legitimately partisan interest" and stressed that "a new path begins that will culminate in a new city and the Government of Spain will be with both municipalities" in this merger project, to which the residents gave their majority support in a popular consultation held this past Sunday

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