Tractors gather in central Madrid in farmers' protest

Tractors gather in central Madrid in farmers' protest

Tractors block off a street in front of Spain's agriculture ministry in central Madrid during a farmers protest on their conditions and European agricultural policy
Tractors block off a street in front of Spain's agriculture ministry in central Madrid during a farmers protest on their conditions and European agricultural policy. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP
Source: AFP

Spanish farmers kept up their protests over the sector's troubles on Thursday, with tractors parked outside of the agriculture ministry in central Madrid before a meeting with Agriculture Minister Luis Planas.

Farmers slowly drove around 15 tractors, some decorated with Spanish flags, to the building which sits across the street from Madrid's busy Atocha train station, snarling traffic.

Once there they parked and unfurled banners that read "Farmers on a war path" and "Planas, the ruin of the countryside".

Around 250 farmers and agricultural union representatives gathered in the rain ahead of the meeting. Most had arrived by bus from other regions of Spain.

Planas was due to meet with Spain's main agricultural unions, Asaja, COAG and UPA, later on Thursday, a day after he met with the major players in the food supply chain

Read also

Valentine's Day strike misery for UK lovers

Farmers on Wednesday blocked roads across the country, especially in the south where they disrupted the first stage of a cycling race and in the northeastern region of Catalonia where they blocked parts of the AP-7 highway linking Spain and France.

PAY ATTENTION: Let yourself be inspired by real people who go beyond the ordinary! Subscribe and watch our new shows on Briefly TV Life now!

Angry farmers have been protesting across Europe over rising costs, high fuel prices, bureaucracy and the environmental requirements in the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its forthcoming "Green Deal".

Spanish farmers are also protesting low prices for their produce and the lack of financial aid to the sector.

The unions are planning a huge rally in front of the agriculture ministry on February 21, and will rally again in Madrid on February 26 to coincide with the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels.

Often referred to as Europe's vegetable garden, Spain is one of the bloc's leading producers of salad, fruit and vegetables but its farms have suffered from a long-running drought in the Iberian Peninsula for the past three years.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.