The Asturian Rural Union (URA) has urged the Ministry of Rural Affairs to immediately convene the Agricultural Council of the Principality of Asturias, a body that, according to the organization’s complaint, has been inactive for months. At the same time, it has criticized that the department promotes other spaces for debate while keeping this channel of communication with the agricultural sector in suspense.
As URA has recalled, for months it has been demanding a meeting with the heads of the Ministry to address the situation faced by farmers and ranchers, without having received a response. In this context, it has criticized that next Monday the Pact for Rural Affairs will be held, a forum in which the organization is not part, considering that the Administration should listen to the entire sector and not choose its interlocutors based on the meeting scope.
Among the main problems that, in URA's opinion, weigh down the Asturian countryside, are the rising production costs, the increasing pressure from wildlife, health problems, administrative delays, and the obstacles linked to various aids and files.
The organization maintains that all these issues require "dialogue, coordination, and decisions," and questions whether a true dialogue with the sector can be said to exist while the Agricultural Council remains uncalled.