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Farm Blockades Persist Across France’s South‑West on Christmas Day as Costs and Legal Disputes Mount

Protesters opposing whole‑herd culls for bovine lumpy skin disease kept key autoroutes shut as authorities counted over €1 million in cleanup and repair costs in Pyrénées‑Atlantiques.

Overview

  • Authorities reported the same blockade points as Wednesday on the A63, A64, A65 and A75, with the Interior Ministry noting about 15 actions involving roughly 140 people.
  • The Pyrénées‑Atlantiques prefecture’s first estimate topped €1 million, citing burned waste, illegal dumping including slurry and asbestos, damaged road surfaces, and 21 radars destroyed or disabled, excluding wider economic losses.
  • Prefects began targeted reopenings, including a 70 km stretch of the A64 from Peyrehorade to the A65 junction and part of the A65, while other sites such as Albi saw camps lifted but roads remained closed for cleaning.
  • Farmers held Christmas masses and shared meals at blockades in Carbonne on the A64 and Cestas on the A63, and Coordination Rurale scheduled a tractor parade in Pau as local supporters continued to visit the camps.
  • Health controls advanced with 72 cattle culled in Haute‑Garonne after a new DNC case, taking the national tally to 115 affected premises since June, and officials debated who will pay mounting cleanup bills, with legal action under consideration.