Spain: Farmers protest EU-South Africa deal after huge financial losses

Farmers across Spain demonstrated on Monday against tariff-free imports of oranges to the European Union, which has seen them being forced to sell their oranges for as little as 9 cents a kilo.
Spanish farmers claim they faced around €150 million in losses last year due to foreign competition, particularly as a result of a trade deal signed by Brussels and South Africa in 2017.The agreement stipulates that oranges can be imported from South Africa to Europe tariff-free and without being bound by the stringent controls that Spanish producers have to uphold.
The eastern Spanish towns of Nules and Les Alqueries were filled with protesters chanting and holding banners reading 'Valencian farmers demand from Europe the respect and dignity that our work deserves,' as seen in footage filmed on Monday.
Demonstrators in Nules threw oranges in a pile on the floor, protesting the fact that thousands of ripe oranges remain unpicked in farms across the country as it's no longer worth paying workers to harvest them.
The Spanish progressive party Compromis and Valencian farmers' organisations have been engaged in talks to discuss a solution to the problem.