“We will not stop anyway, this is vital,” he said. On Sunday morning at the “Water Village” in Melle (Deux-Sèvres), many protesters began to fold their tents and leave the encampment of several thousand people, which had been set up since Tuesday, by car or hitchhiking without the presence of law enforcement.
Saturday clashes
Their demonstration against the “basins”, the disputed irrigation resources, ended after Friday. starting a fire caused by a tear gas canister in the hay field. Later on Saturday, activists briefly shut down a grain field at the seaport of La Rochelle before a demonstration that drew 6,000 to 10,000 people and resulted in clashes without serious injuries.
“We have sown a very good seed and there will be a before and after Water Village,” said Julien Le Guet, spokesman for Bassines Non Merci. He wants to believe that “we have never been so close” to a moratorium on “basins”. After the violence of March 2023 in Sainte-Soline, the manager welcomed the outcome of the mobilization, wanting to “protect the farms” without being “trapped” by the agricultural union’s Rural Coordination, a call that was consequently little followed.
Seven arrests
The Agricultural Union FNSEA welcomed the farmers’ restraint, calling for “calmness”. According to the authorities, 9 people were slightly injured in La Rochelle, and 7 people were arrested.