Peso da Régua, Vila Real, Portugal, Aug. 7, 2024 (Lusa) - Winegrowers protested on Wednesday in Portugal's northern town of Peso da Régua against the cut in Port wine production and wine imports, and for an increase in the price paid for production, warning of a pre-disaster situation in the Douro wine producing region.

In front of the Douro and Port Wine Institute (IVDP) building, the demonstrators shouted slogans such as "The Douro united will never be defeated" and sang the national anthem.

A group from Ervedosa do Douro, in São João da Pesqueira, wore black T-shirts with the message "Douro muto" written in white and held a placard that read "The Douro is in the abyss. In defence of our survival and our land. United we stand".

 Others wrote slogans such as "Enough!!! The Douro is ours, the Douro is us" and "The banks profit millions, the Douro not even pennies".

 "Our main problem is that we don't have anywhere to put the grapes and we don't have the money to pay for what we spend. With this demonstration we want the Douro to produce Port wine only with the spirit produced in the Douro, with grapes from the Douro, and for them to stop importing Spanish wine, and wine that is not ours, and to buy what is ours," said Joaquim Monteiro, 71, who lives in Ervedosa do Douro.

The producer emphasised that the Douro is a difficult region to work in and that farmers won't make money to pay for the harvest. "Maybe we won't even harvest because nobody wants our grapes, that's the reality," he emphasised, stressing that winegrowers "are becoming destitute".

"How am I going to guarantee a farm where, in two years, I lose 25 per cent of my income? And we're talking about gross income," stressed Abraão Santos, 59 and from Alvações do Corgo, Santa Marta de Penaguião, noting that subsidies are what is keeping some farmers afloat.

The producer lamented the increase in labour costs, phytopharmaceuticals and fertilisers, which he said had doubled. "How are we going to cope with this, how are we going to keep the Douro a World Heritage Site?" he added.

With 5.5 hectares of vines, the winegrower emphasised that he currently makes "less money" than his father with "one hectare of vines". Last year he had 17 casks subsidised and this year he'll only have 15.

The cut in the subsidy, which is the amount of grape juice that each winegrower can allocate to the production of Port wine and is also one of their biggest sources of income, was the motto for the protest called by the Association of Winegrowers and Family Farmers of the Douro (Avadouriense), together with the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA).

The IVDP's interprofessional council set the subsidy at 90,000 barrels (550 litres), which represents a cut of 14,000 barrels in Port wine production.

Manuel Covas, aged 62 and also from Ervedosa, made a point of going to Régua to "show his face". "I'm disgusted because in 2000 I sold it for €1,200 and now I'm selling it for €1,000. At the time I paid a labourer €20 and now €50. How can I survive? I'm in mourning," he emphasised, stressing that "winegrowers don't earn enough to pay production costs".

And, he added, "this year there's a risk that a lot of grapes will be left hanging on the vines, because the traders are warning that they don't want grapes".

The president of the Ervedosa do Douro parish council, Manuel Fernandes, fears that the Douro is on the verge of "a social crisis" and recalled that many families, including in his parish, live only from the vineyard, highlighting Port wine as the main source of income, since table wines "don't make enough for the farm".

The mayor fears that producers will abandon their properties and that the Douro will become deserted.

"I'm in the fight for small and medium-sized farmers because we've been very badly affected when it comes to growing vines," said Alexandre Ferro, 75 years old and with five hectares of vines in Gouvinhas, Sabrosa. Expenses, he said, are rising all the time and farmers' incomes are falling.

Vítor Rodrigues, from the CNA board, explained that today's demonstration was triggered by a number of factors that are leading the Douro Demarcated Region to a "pre-catastrophe situation".

The announcement of yet another subsidy cut was the motto for the protest, but there are more problems affecting the region, such as, he pointed out, the price paid for grapes, which "hasn't increased for around 25 years" when the prices of production factors have risen exponentially, especially in the last two years.

"There are imports of wines and spirits from outside the region, when the region has all the capacity to produce all its raw materials and, in fact, this is one of the demands that we are bringing to the demonstration today, which is that all Port wine should be made with raw materials from the region, including spirits," emphasised Vítor Rodrigues.

He also called for elections to be held for the Casa do Douro, so that it can fulfil its role as "regulator of production and stocks".

   The winegrowers travelled on foot through some of Peso da Régua's main streets, ending their protest in the station area.

At the end of the morning, a delegation was received by the president of the IVDP.

PLI/AYLS // AYLS

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