Spanish Farmers Urge Supermarkets to Drop Moroccan Produce Amid Diplomatic Tensions

With 83 companies, the board of directors of the association of fruit and vegetable producer organizations in Almeria (Coexphal), launched on June 4 a veiled call to boycott Moroccan products exported to Spain. This decision is linked to the diplomatic rift that has opposed Spain and Morocco for a few days. In its open letter, the association expressed its "surprise to see Moroccan products on their shelves," given that "Morocco has released minors and the elderly [...] as a measure of pressure," it said.

To download: Call to boycott Moroccan products

Thus, the objective of the boycott campaign is to "educate the final consumer by showing him how he can identify the Moroccan product in the supermarket thanks to the barcode 611". As for the director of Coexphal, Luis Miguel Fernández, he urges the entire Spanish agri-food sector to follow the movement, since, he says, "it is an action open to the participation of other sectoral organizations, with which we have already spoken".

From Friday, complaint messages under the hashtag #TragamosOrigenMarruecos will flood the social networks. Even before this diplomatic conflict, Spanish farmers were already complaining about the presence and competition of Moroccan products in Spain, although exports follow the legal circuit. Thus, they are taking advantage of this conflict to make themselves heard. However, Morocco could retaliate by also explaining to its consumers that the barcode of Spanish products ranges from 840 to 849.