The Spanish government has passes new legislation that is aimed at protecting the country’s beleaguered farmers, amidst growing protests. Under the new law, passed at the end of February, retailers and wholesalers who sell agricultural products at below-cost prices will face fines of up to €1 million. The new measures also mean that production costs must be taken into account in contractual relationships to ensure that prices of fruits and vegetable don’t fall below what they cost to produce.

There has naturally been a surge in home-cooking in Spain since the lockdown was imposed to combat the coronavirus outbreak. This has led to a 30% increase in demand on the domestic market for vegetables, with prices of some products such as aubergines, courgettes and peppers soaring in the past week. Aubergine producers were receiving €0.10/kg until recently, but the price has now gone up to €1/kg, while courgette prices have jumped from €0.30/kg to €1/kg and Italian peppers are up from €1.60/kg to €2.20/kg,