While the centre of the country has been plunged into firefighting inferno, farmers in other parts of the country are reporting “abusive prohibitions” under the current ‘Situation of Contingency’ that are preventing them from harvesting. A statement released by the Confederation of Portuguese Farmers stresses “we are all united in the same objective – that Portugal doesn’t have fires – but there has to be good sense in the way controls on agricultural activity are carried out”. Agriculture follows “Nature’s cycle”. There are activities that cannot be put off for days at a time, says the statement, which appeals for more ‘interpretation of the law’ and less ‘knee-jerk’ prohibitions.
