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On December 25, farmers spent Christmas on the A63 motorway, between impromptu masses and shared meals. Supported by supportive residents, they maintain their blockade against the systematic slaughter of livestock, recalling that their demands remain at the heart of their mobilization, even in the middle of the holiday.
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Late in the afternoon on December 25, a mass was held under a bridge on the A63 motorway. Dozens of people were present, farmers, but also residents who came to support them. “It’s totally improbable, but that’s what’s beautiful. That’s what’s beautiful, precisely, is that people still have a little bit, I’m going to come back to the word, of humanity.” confides a local resident. A farmer adds: “It warms my heart. It’s the first time we’ve spent Christmas here on the A63.”
Earlier in the day, a Christmas lunch brought together around ten farmers. The blockade was supported by certain residents, like Yveline, a trader in the region, who regularly brings food to the mobilized farmers. “Fortunately we have citizens who come to support us, who do what they can. We slept on straw balloons or in tractors to defend a cause, especially when we leave our family at home, warm”says a farmer.
Rural Coordination recalls that the main reason for its presence remains political. The union is the last to maintain the blockade and refuses the systematic slaughter of livestock when a case of bovine dermatosis is detected.
“Celebrating Christmas at blocking points, as there have been everywhere in the South-West, shows that the profession has strong demands,” explains Vincent Collineau, co-president of Coordination Rurale Gironde, breeder and winegrower.
A Christmas on a highway that farmers have no intention of leaving for the moment.
