MADRID (AP) – Hundreds of farmers drove their tractors into central Madrid on Wednesday as part of ongoing protests against European Union and local agricultural policies and to demand measures to alleviate rising production costs. I got into the.
The protests are the largest to take place in the Spanish capital after more than two weeks of daily protests across the country, including a rally in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries headquarters.
Many of the tractors carried Spanish flags, and some farmers held banners reading “No agriculture, no life” and “Farmers dying out.”
“It is impossible to make a living from the rural industry, which is what we want. It is impossible to make a living from work. That is all we ask for,” said Sylvia Ruiz, a livestock farmer in the north-central region of Burgos. (46) told The Associated Press.
LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA, GRAN, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 21: Some demonstrators during the 16th day of tractor protests on Spanish roads on February 21, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. confronts a police officer. Farmers and ranchers across Spain have mobilized their tractors for the 16th day in a row to demand improvements in the sector, including help to combat the drought plaguing rural areas. Moreover, they are protesting against European policies and their lack of profitability. Hundreds of tractors began a slow march to Madrid yesterday, but a large protest is planned today to give voice to unrest on the ground. The farmers advance in five different columns converging on the capital, attempting to disrupt traffic. The mobilization took place five days after a meeting held by the Minister of Agriculture with agricultural organizations in Madrid, which ended without an agreement despite the measures proposed by Planas. (Photo by Carlos Luján/Europe Press via Getty Images)
MADRID, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 21: Several demonstrators confront police during the 16th day of tractor protests on a Spanish road on February 21, 2024 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Eduardo Parra/Europa Press, Getty Images)
Madrid, Spain – February 21: (Photo by Eduardo Parra/Europa Press, Getty Images)
Organizing group Union of Unions announced it would bring in 500 tractors and more farmers by bus. Due to government regulations, many of the tractors may have to remain outside the city.
Similar protests have occurred across the bloc in recent weeks. Farmers complain that the 27-nation EU’s policies on the environment and other issues are a financial burden, making their produce more expensive than imports from outside the bloc.
Spain and the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, have made some concessions in recent weeks, but farmers say they are not enough.
In addition to EU policies, Spanish farmers say laws aimed at ensuring wholesalers at big supermarkets pay fair prices for their products are not being enforced as consumer prices soar. claims.
Madrid, Spain – February 21: (Photo by Carlos Lujan/Europa Press, Getty Images)
Madrid, Spain – February 21: (Photo by Carlos Lujan/Europa Press, Getty Images)
Madrid, Spain – February 21: (Photo by Carlos Lujan/Europa Press, Getty Images)
In neighboring France, the EU’s biggest agricultural producer, President Emmanuel Macron’s government has also come under intense pressure from angry farmers who staged large demonstrations last month and have continued to demand better wages and other support. further dispersed protests continue.
President Macron is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of France’s main annual agricultural fair in Paris this weekend. Ahead of the test, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday sought to convince the agricultural sector that he is fast-tracking promised initiatives to make farming more profitable and simpler.
“In recent weeks, farmers across Europe have been raising a cry of anger, a cry that comes from the depths of their hearts,” he said. “Behind this cry is above all a call for action.”
Attal has promised to draft a bill by summer that would strengthen the involvement of French farmers in commercial negotiations with distributors over the price of their produce. He also promised measures to make it easier and cheaper for farmers to hire seasonal workers, including foreigners.
Attal also said the government is working to protect French farmers from imports of chicken, eggs, sugar and grain from Ukraine.
“Solidarity with Ukraine is clearly essential, but it must not be to the detriment of our farmers,” the prime minister said.
Top Shot – On February 21, 2024, in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Alcobendas, north of Madrid, demonstrators are seen in the cabin of a tractor as they move towards farmers protesting to denounce their conditions and European agricultural policy. Chicken sitting. Hundreds of tractors began gathering in the center of Madrid on the day Spanish farmers began their mobilization to denounce competition they see as unfair from certain countries outside the European Union. (Photo Credit: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP) (Photo Credit: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP, Getty Images)
On February 21, 2024, a police officer guards a demonstrator driving a tractor in front of the Ministry of Agriculture in Alcobendas, north of Madrid, on the way to a farmers’ protest denouncing the conditions of farmers and European agricultural policies. Hundreds of tractors began to gather. A new mobilization of Spanish farmers has arrived in the center of Madrid to condemn what they see as unfair competition from certain countries outside the EU. (Photo Credit: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP) (Photo Credit: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP, Getty Images)
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Spain – February 21: A line of tractors crosses Gran Canaria, the 16th day of tractor protests on Spanish roads. February 21, 2024, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. Spain. Farmers and ranchers across Spain have taken to the roads with tractors for the 16th day in a row to demand improvements in the sector, including asking for help to deal with the drought plaguing the countryside. Moreover, they are protesting against European policies and their lack of profitability. Hundreds of tractors began a slow march to Madrid yesterday, but a large protest is planned today to give voice to unrest on the ground. The farmers advance in five different columns converging on the capital, attempting to disrupt traffic. The mobilization took place five days after a meeting held by the Minister of Agriculture with agricultural organizations in Madrid, which ended without an agreement despite the measures proposed by Planas. (Photo courtesy of Europa Press Canaries via Getty Images)
