By KURT ZINDULKA
In what may prove to be the first shot across the bow for broader unrest in the months to come, French farmers once again took to their tractors in Lyon on Monday to protest the rising cost of fuel in the country.
Dozens of farmers took to the A7 motorway to descend upon the Rhône prefecture building in Lyon on Monday following the call of the Rural Coordination agricultural union to demand relief from the soaring energy prices, which have seen the cost of agricultural non-road diesel (GNR) skyrocket from 0.90 to 1.70 euros per litre ($7.50 / gallon) in the past few months, the local LyonMag reported.
The Lyon-based Le Progrès newspaper reported that in an apparent show of force, around 20 tractors encircled one of the two loading points for the TotalEnergies refinery in the Feyzin commune on the outskirts of the city.
Although the refinery protest lasted only around two hours, it demonstrated the farmers’ ability to target critical infrastructure and potentially cause widespread fuel disruptions, as Irish farmers did just last month during similar energy protests.
