Farmers from the whole of the island of Crete are on Monday gathering in droves in the town of Irakleio, in a protest against a new proposed property tax on farmland. They say that if their demands are not met, they will bring their tractors to Athens.
By bus, by private car, by trucks
Farmers are arriving by any means possible for a gathering that has been planned for 2 p.m. Monday. Reports in Cretan media (link in Greek) say that the headquarters of the Cretan administrative periphery is already under siege. It located on a central square.
Farmers’ representatives intend to pass on to Stavros Arnaoutakis, the head of the periphery, a written list of demands.
Cretan farmers are planning to travel en masse to Athens on the day the new property will be voted in parliament, joining their colleagues from across Greece.
A mass protest was held on Thursday October 31 in Athens, where the disabled and pensioners came out in force against austerity and the proposed new property tax. It will be replacing an equally unpopular tax, which was being collected through electricity bills.
A nationwide strike had been planned for Wednesday November 6.
The killing of two men outside a Golden Dawn party office last Friday has led to a climate of political tension, on top of a financing review by Greece's international creditors, the ECB-EU-IMF Troika, which might lead to even more austerity measures in 2014.