- Region
- Águilas
- Alhama de Murcia
- Jumilla
- Lorca
- Los Alcázares
- Mazarrón
- San Javier
-
ALL AREAS & TOWNS
- AREAS
- SOUTH WEST
- MAR MENOR
- MURCIA CITY & CENTRAL
- NORTH & NORTH WEST
- TOWNS
- Abanilla
- Abarán
- Aguilas
- Alamillo
- Alcantarilla
- Aledo
- Alhama de Murcia
- Archena
- Balsicas
- Blanca
- Bolnuevo
- Bullas
- Cañadas del Romero
- Cabo de Palos
- Calasparra
- Camping Bolnuevo
- Campo De Ricote
- Camposol
- Canada De La Lena
- Caravaca de la Cruz
- Cartagena
- Cehegin
- Ceuti
- Cieza
- Condado de Alhama
- Corvera
- Costa Cálida
- Cuevas De Almanzora
- Cuevas de Reyllo
- El Carmoli
- El Mojon
- El Molino (Puerto Lumbreras)
- El Pareton / Cantareros
- El Raso
- El Valle Golf Resort
- Fortuna
- Fuente Alamo
- Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
- Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
- Isla Plana
- Islas Menores & Mar de Cristal
- Jumilla
- La Azohia
- La Charca
- La Manga Club
- La Manga del Mar Menor
- La Pinilla
- La Puebla
- La Torre
- La Torre Golf Resort
- La Unión
- Las Palas
- Las Ramblas
- Las Ramblas Golf
- Las Torres de Cotillas
- Leiva
- Librilla
- Lo Pagan
- Lo Santiago
- Lorca
- Lorquí
- Los Alcázares
- Los Balcones
- Los Belones
- Los Canovas
- Los Nietos
- Los Perez (Tallante)
- Los Urrutias
- Los Ventorrillos
- Mar De Cristal
- Mar Menor
- Mar Menor Golf Resort
- Mazarrón
- Mazarrón Country Club
- Molina de Segura
- Moratalla
- Mula
- Murcia City
- Murcia Property
- Pareton
- Peraleja Golf Resort
- Perin
- Pilar de la Horadada
- Pinar de Campoverde
- Pinoso
- Playa Honda
- Playa Honda / Playa Paraíso
- Pliego
- Portmán
- Pozo Estrecho
- Puerto de Mazarrón
- Puerto Lumbreras
- Puntas De Calnegre
- Region of Murcia
- Ricote
- Roda Golf Resort
- Roldan
- Roldan and Lo Ferro
- San Javier
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Santiago de la Ribera
- Sierra Espuña
- Sucina
- Tallante
- Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
- Torre Pacheco
- Totana
- What's On Weekly Bulletin
- Yecla
- EDITIONS: Spanish News Today Alicante Today Andalucia Today
article_detail
Date Published: 02/02/2022
ARCHIVED - Violent Lorca protestor surrenders to police while locals open up about living next to a pig farm
Monday’s assault on Lorca Town Hall has resulted in one arrest so far, with the Vox party accused of egging on the mischief
One of the farmers who stormed the Local Development Centre in Lorca on Monday has been arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer. The man voluntarily handed himself in at the local police station, while a further three protestors have also been arrested.
The riot happened just as a Town Council plenary session was scheduled to be held to discuss a modification in the municipal ordinance affecting the distance of pig farms, and effectively restricting where they can be built in Lorca – not too close to schools or urban areas – a proposed measure which riled up pig farmers to such an extent that they broke into the municipal building and forced the plenary session to be cancelled.
Police officers are now studying CCTV and media footage of the event to identify the remaining assailants who pushed the policemen to make their way to the fourth floor of the municipal building. They also want to find out who led the incident, with one of the farmers pointing the finger at far-right Vox party for whipping up hysteria.
The goat farmer who’s sorry for taking part in a pig farm protest
Among those who has already been identified is Pedro Giner, a well-known goat farmer in Lorca, who made a statement expressing regret for his actions: “I would like to apologise to the police, to the civil servants and councillors of the Town Hall, to my neighbours and to all the people of Lorca. I would also like to apologise to my family and, above all, to my daughters.”
In the videos recorded during the assault, Pedro Giner can be seen as part of the first line of demonstrators who managed to break through the police cordon to gain access to the building by force. “This is no way to channel any problem. I'm totally sorry,” he said, standing next to his uncle, Eduardo, and the dozens of goats he looks after every day.
But what was a well-known goat farmer doing in the front line of a protest by the pig sector anyway?
“Several factors came together,” he said. “The situation of the sector, because we farmers are going through a very bad patch, with increases in the price of feed, electricity… Livestock farming is very tense.”
On arriving at the demonstration, he said, “they told us that in the plenary session they were debating some issues that affected and threatened the entire livestock sector.”
In other words, many of the farmers who took part in the assault, including Giner himself, were “misinformed”. In addition, “there were some people who mocked the farmers, taking photos of us”, and that was the “trigger for people to get that way and want to do that, which should not be done. You can’t attack a public institution.”
Yesterday, after a night “without sleeping a wink”, Pedro Giner was able to “see some videos of the mayor” of Lorca, Diego José Mateos, which “clarified many things”. In fact, the farmer tried to contact the mayor yesterday “to apologise to him personally, because I know the mayor and I think he is a formidable person. And he knows me. I just want him to know that my intention was not to hurt anyone. Nor did I want to stop the plenary. I just wanted to know what was being discussed and how it affected me.”
Giner also wanted to clarify that “farmers are not like that” image that the videos of the assault on the plenary show: “We are good people who dedicate ourselves to work, to what we do, and I don’t think that this image coincides with what we represent.”
Political party accused of stirring up violence
While Giner’s uncle Eduardo claims that “Vox has heated up the atmosphere”, Pedro himself clarifies that “I don’t belong to any political party. It is not a question of political colours, but of the problems that the livestock sector is going through, and people’s tension. And when you reach this level of tension, I think you lose common sense, which is what happened. I really mean it. I am very upset about all this. And very sorry. If I had known that it was only a problem with the pigs, I would have stayed looking after my goats, which give me a lot of work.”
In spite of everything, Vox insisted yesterday on maintaining its discourse in favour of the farmers’ actions: “We have to put ourselves in the shoes of those who came to the Plenary in the hope of making the municipal government team think again,” said Vox spokesperson in Lorca City Council, Carmen Menduiña, who nonetheless stressed her party’s “rejection” of “any type of violence”.
However, she conceded that “the acts that took place were the result of the desperation of the workers of a strategic sector for the municipality”.
What it’s really like to live next to an industrial pig farm
While there’s no doubt that the agricultural sector, like many other industries, has suffered economically during the pandemic. But intensive pig farms – not the ones where pigs live outside and graze on fields, but where they’re locked in dirty, cramped cages their whole lives – have been growing in both number and size in Lorca in recent years.
As one local resident in Lorca whose house is right next door to one of these farms attested, “There used to be ten pigs and now there are 2,000. There are also bulls.”
The woman complained of the smell and noise of the farms, of the type which are accused by Greenpeace of abusing animals and releasing untold amounts of slurry and waste into the environment.
“We’re in the dining room and it’s as if we were eating inside the farm,” she said, while recognising that she had nothing against pig farming per se, but objected to the practice of intensive battery farming: “I don’t mind pigs. My father, bless his soul, had that shed over there and was always dedicated to agriculture and livestock farming his whole life.”
The new law proposed by Lorca Council aims to finally place limits on how much these pig farms can expand, and where newly built farms can be placed – not too close to residential areas as they are now due to a lack of town planning and oversight.
“If this doesn’t stop and they continue to expand the farm, they will end up eating us,” said the Lorca woman. “This is unbearable.”
Image 1: Ayuntamiento de Lorca
Image 2: Greenpeace
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Find more information by AREA, TOWN or URBANISATION .....
Cabo de Palos
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Cartagena
El Carmoli
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Manga del Mar Menor
La Puebla
La Torre Golf Resort
La Union
Los Alcazares
Los Belones
Los Nietos
Los Urrutias
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Pilar de la Horadada
Playa Honda / Playa Paraiso
Portman
Roldan and Lo Ferro
San Javier
San Pedro del Pinatar
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
Torre Pacheco
Aguilas
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Aledo
Alhama de Murcia
Bolnuevo
Camposol
Condado de Alhama
Fuente Alamo
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Lorca
Mazarron
Puerto de Mazarron
Puerto Lumbreras
Sierra Espuna
Totana
Abanilla
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Abaran
Alcantarilla
Archena
Blanca
Corvera
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Lorqui
Molina de Segura
Mosa Trajectum
Murcia City
Peraleja Golf Resort
Ricote
Sucina
Urbanisations
CamposolCondado de Alhama
El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
Important Topics:
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia property news generic threadWeekly Bulletin
CAMPOSOL TODAY Whats OnCartagena SpainCoronavirusCorvera Airport MurciaMurcia Gota Fria 2019Murcia property news generic threadWeekly Bulletin
Contact Murcia Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268