Madrid concentrates this Wednesday a massive mobilization of farmers with more than 500 tractors that have arrived in the capital in five columns from different parts of Spain, on a day in which rural protests have also been reproduced in places like Aragón, Málaga or Murcia.
The march towards the capital of Spain has been called by the agrarian organization Unión de Uniones (UDU) and began on Tuesday afternoon, when the tractors began to march towards the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) .
Hours late, they are already approaching this enclave after experiencing moments of tension in the vicinity of Puerta de Alcalá.
Just yesterday the Justice ruled in favor of the Madrid Delegation that had decided to access through Alfonso XII Street, instead of through Cibeles-Prado from Alcalá Street as the organizers intended; In addition, 150 have been left outside the capital for exceeding the quota of 500 that had been agreed upon.
In general, the agrarian mobilization is developing along the planned routes, except for some moments of tension when several dozen farmers have tried on several occasions to break the police cordon to access the Cibeles-Prado axis from Alcalá Street.
Some confrontation with the agents
Several tractors have been placed in front of the police cordon, which has generated some confrontations with the agents in which the coordinator of the Unión de Uniones, Luis Cortés, has been slightly injured.
According to the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), this Wednesday there was 4% less intensity of traffic entering Madrid, compared to last Wednesday.
He added that there have been no major traffic disruptions on high-capacity roads, except on the A-42 at kilometer 25, which has been closed for 25 minutes by several protesters on foot. The tractors have circulated on conventional roads.
Other protests in Spain
Apart from this demonstration, the three agricultural organizations considered to be the majority (Asaja, COAG and UPA), with the support in some regions of Agro-food Cooperatives, have called for protest events in Córdoba, Gran Canaria, Málaga and Murcia for this Wednesday, in addition to a children’s tractor unit in Palencia.
Also in Aragon, the mobilizations of farmers and ranchers have returned to the roads this day, who have cut off the A-2 highway at La Almunia de Doña Godina, towards Madrid; and the N-122 and A-127 at the accesses to the AP-68 and A-68 in Magallón.
In addition, some 600 farmers and more than a hundred vehicles, mainly trucks with beehives, have slowed down traffic on four of the entrances to the city of Cáceres.
In the same province, in Plasencia, a hundred farmers and ranchers have staged a loud demonstration.
In Malaga, hundreds of farmers took to the center of the city with their tractors this Wednesday, coming from different places in the province from the A-357 and A-45 roads, until meeting at the Paseo del Parque, the heart of the capital.
The farmers, furthermore, have not come empty-handed: they plan to distribute thousands of kilos of oranges and lemons from Guadalhorce among citizens.
In Murcia, around 2,000 tractors and agricultural vehicles are advancing this Wednesday along different highways and roads in the region and about 400 of them are expected to arrive in the capital.
In the morning they gathered in the town of Lorca to take the A-7 highway towards Murcia and explore the main arteries of the region.
The Government shows its respect
From the Government, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas , has expressed his utmost respect for the demonstration called by the Unión de Uniones in Madrid, and has expressed his desire for it to take place “peacefully and without any type of violence.” ”.
Furthermore, in the Congress of Deputies, he has defended three of the 18 measures that he announced last week and that respond to some of the demands of the rural sector, such as requiring imported agricultural products to undergo the same controls that national products pass. .
This Wednesday, the Senate also hosts in its plenary session the debate of two motions to urge the Government to support Spanish farmers and ranchers.
More than two weeks of protests
Spanish farmers have been protesting for more than two weeks to denounce the difficulties they endure due to the rise in production costs, environmental demands in the European Union (EU), the increase in bureaucracy and the entry of agricultural imports from third countries.
BY: TTU
