By Jesus Calero MADRID, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Spanish government on Wednesday rolled out new measures to open up access to farmland in a bid to revive an ageing farming sector, but farm groups
Spain's New Measures Aim to Attract Young Farmers Amid Challenges
Government Initiatives to Support Young Farmers
By Jesus Calero
Current Challenges in the Farming Sector
MADRID, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Spanish government on Wednesday rolled out new measures to open up access to farmland in a bid to revive an ageing farming sector, but farm groups cautioned that land alone will not keep young people in the countryside.
Farmers' Union Responses
The announcement came as the EU moves closer to signing its long-delayed Mercosur trade deal, a pact farmers warn could squeeze margins and weigh on young farmers' willingness to commit to the sector.
EU Trade Deal Implications
Farm unions across Europe are ramping up pressure over trade and farm incomes.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the government will launch a platform to centralise farmland data and unlock underused land, with around 17,000 state-owned rural plots to be assessed for use by young farmers.
Spain's farm sector faces a sharp demographic imbalance, with about 40% of holders over 65 and fewer than 9% under 41, government data showed, mirroring an ageing trend across European agriculture.
Farm groups broadly welcomed efforts to improve access to land, but warned the measures would have limited impact unless broader economic pressures were addressed.
"Access to land is one of the main problems, but it's far from the only one," Luis Perez, a youth representative at farmer association COAG, told Reuters, citing low returns, paperwork and uncertainty around trade deals like EU-Mercosur.
Farmers' union UPA said it backed the government's approach but stressed that speed and funding would determine whether it makes a difference on the ground, also calling for sustained backing from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the bloc's main farm subsidy programme.
Sanchez said Spain would push for 10% of CAP funds to be set aside for generational renewal, despite limited support among EU governments.
(Reporting by Jesus Calero, editing by Andrei Khalip and Ed Osmond)
