Taking the fizz: Furious French wine makers destroy crate-loads of Spanish sparkling wine and pour gallons or red over the streets in protest over cheap imports of booze from neighbouring country
French winemakers have destroyed crates full of Spanish sparkling wine in protest against cheap imports of liquor from the neighboring country.
Protesters this morning stopped several trucks importing wines from Spain at the Le Bolou toll booth, just 10 miles from the southern border between France and Spain.
They destroyed several wine shipments by smashing the bottles and pouring the wine onto the road. Some even turned on the tap of a Spanish truck, causing red wine to flow onto the highway.
The angry winemakers also piled up several crates of tomatoes and car tires and set them on fire.
The protest is part of the “economic war against economic criminals who abuse ruined winegrowers,” said Frederic Rouanet, president of a local syndicate of winemakers.
Protesters destroyed several wine shipments by smashing the bottles (photo) and pouring the wine onto the road
The protest, which saw the street painted red because of spilled wine (pictured above), is part of the “economic war against economic criminals who abuse ruined winegrowers,” said Frederic Rouanet, the president of a local syndicate of winemakers.
The demonstrators smashed several crates of Freixenet bottles
Some even sprinkled Spanish sparkling wine as the floor was soaked in wine and foam
After I opened the lip of a truck, gallons of red wine poured onto the road
The enraged winemakers also piled up several crates of tomatoes and tires before setting them on fire (pictured here)
In videos posted to social media platform
“We are going to take away the possibility of being able to import foreign wines,” he added.
Among the demonstrators were winemakers from the area, who were largely left alone by the police, according to the French newspaper Vitisphere.
In videos posted to social media platform
They also stacked hundreds of cardboard crates containing Spanish tomatoes and set them on fire.
Some threw more and more boxes into the flames, which soon developed into gray smoke that rose several meters high.
Protesters also set fire to a pile of tires, which blew black smoke into the air and was visible from miles away.
Video from the scene shows flames eating through the rubber as two fire trucks attend and firefighters prepare to extinguish the blaze.
Protesters also set fire to a pile of tires, which blew black smoke into the sky (pictured) and was visible from miles away
They also stacked hundreds of cardboard crates containing Spanish tomatoes and set them on fire
Protesters this morning stopped several trucks importing wines from Spain at the Bolou toll booth near the southern border between France and Spain
Some threw more and more boxes into the flames, which soon developed into gray smoke that rose several meters high
Protesters emptied the truck and threw the boxes of tomatoes onto the road
Protesters even grabbed individual packages of tomatoes and threw them on the ground
Before the protest escalated, a delegation of vintners from various local syndicates and unions met to discuss cheap Spanish imports that threaten to put French winemakers out of business.
This is not the first time that French vintners have spoken out against cheap imports by destroying wine.
French producers are furious that their traditional rivals in Spain – and also Italy – are exporting hundreds of millions of liters of cheap wine that will threaten their livelihoods for years.
In 2016, dozens of people took to the roads at Le Bolou, stopping Spanish tankers and then emptying their wine onto the roads.
Rouanet confirmed at the time that four tankers had been emptied, wasting 70,000 liters of wine.
His fellow demonstrators scrawled graffiti on the side of Spanish trucks, with slogans such as ‘wine does not comply’ – they believe Spanish wine is substandard and not produced in accordance with European regulations.