The first tractors of the agricultural protest called this Monday in the city of Madrid have arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, already in the capital, after leaving early in the morning from the municipality of Arganda del Rey, in a journey that, so far, has developed “normally,” according to the Government Delegation.
Upon arrival in the city, the protest delegation, convened by the agricultural organizations Asaja, COAG and UPA, has been received by about 20,000 protesters, according to the organizers, coming from different places in Spain belonging to entities from Catalonia, Galicia, Aragón, Castilla y León, Andalusia or the Valencian Community, which also bring together sectors such as livestock, fishing, beekeeping or aquaculture.
The tractor unit develops “normally”
According to the Government Delegation, which has not provided attendance figures for the moment, the ‘tractorada’ between Arganda del Rey and Madrid has developed “normally” and “under the conditions established” in terms of itinerary and volume of tractors that , according to COAG, one of the organizers of the protest, has amounted to 105 tractors.
The delegation arrived at around 12:10 p.m. at the Ministry of Agriculture, in front of the Atocha station, with a banner at their head with the motto ‘Our end will be your hunger: defend your food’.
Dressed in the characteristic phosphorescent yellow vests and in a festive and protesting atmosphere, the farmers, ranchers and fishermen who were waiting for the arrival of their colleagues on tractors have made themselves noticed with whistles, cowbells, horns and vuvuzelas.
While waiting for the tractors, there have been some moments of tension between the protesters and the National Police, with some pushing and shoving that has not led to major incidents.
Strong security device
In the concentration prior to the arrival of the tractors, many Spanish flags were also seen among a strong security device, as well as those of different autonomous communities; Some chickens have been released and a giant turnip has been planted along with several onions at the gates of the police cordon located in front of the ministerial headquarters.
Banners have been displayed with slogans such as ‘Our end will be your hunger’, ‘No to the 2030 Agenda’, ‘Abandonment without generational replacement, the countryside disappears’, ‘We need agricultural insurance that covers production costs’, as well as the head of a stuffed animal, some firecrackers have been set off and some flares have been lit.
From the Ministry of Agriculture, the march will run along Paseo del Prado, Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo de la Castellana, in the central lanes of the south-north direction, to number 46 of the latter, where the Office in Spain of the European Parliament.
What are farmers asking for?
The ten measures that agricultural organizations demand are:
- 1- Flexibility of the Common Agricultural Policy by considering its bureaucracy and environmental costs unaffordable; Less bureaucratic burdens at the administrative level.
- 2- Negotiation of mirror clauses in commercial exchanges with third countries and creation of an observatory on imports of food products.
- 3- Paralysis of the agreements with Mercosur and New Zealand and the negotiations with Chile, Kenya, Mexico, India and Australia, as well as more controls on imports from Morocco.
- 4- Change in the operation of the Agri-Food Chain Law. Modification and expansion of said rule to prohibit unfair practices, so that farmers’ prices cover production costs.
- 5- An agricultural insurance system that responds to the needs of producers and adapted to the structural situation caused by droughts and adverse meteorological phenomena.
- 6- Taxation in line with the cost increases borne by the sector derived from situations such as the war in Ukraine.
- 7- Urgent investments in irrigation.
- 8- Help to face setbacks such as drought.
- 9- Measures to encourage the incorporation of young people into the countryside.
- 10- Measures in the management of the “crisis” over animal health that, in addition, they believe is being the subject of “partisan struggles.”
Will the protests end?
The demonstrations within the framework of the “Action Unit” of Asaja, COAG and UPA have been joined by those of the Union of Unions, which already managed to arrive with 500 tractors last Wednesday in the center of the capital.
The Unió de Pagesos, also the protagonist of a large rally in Barcelona, has already cleared up the first unknown: the protests will continue beyond what they decide this Monday in the Council of Ministers in Brussels.
In fact, he has called for tractor marches on Tuesday, the 27th, and Wednesday, the 28th, at various points on the border with France, including the AP-7, to reject European Union free trade agreements.
The mobilizations have been organized, in certain cases, together with the French union Confédération Paysanne and the Revolta Pagesa platform of Girona.
Farmers and ranchers are called to gather starting at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday in four different areas.
The unrest of the French has become especially evident this weekend with the altercations that resulted in four arrests during the visit of their president to the Agriculture Hall.
Movements in the EU
The Agriculture Ministers of the European Union are, therefore, facing a key meeting to make decisions with which to address this wave of discontent that has spread, to a greater or lesser extent, to several countries in the European Union.
Last Thursday the European Commission proposed a battery of short and medium-term measures to alleviate the administrative burden on farmers, with simplification of requirements and controls to receive aid.
The Community Executive will also launch an online survey from March to May to identify farmers’ concerns, their burdens and the complexity derived from the rules of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which has been in force since January 1 2023.
The first evaluation of the CAP will be known at the beginning of summer and the final one in autumn.
Planas: “Farmers and ranchers expect an effective European response”
The Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, assured this Monday that farmers and ranchers in the European Union expect “an effective European response” to the protests that have been taking place in recent weeks in a large part of the Member States.
Upon his arrival at the meeting of Agriculture leaders of the Twenty-Seven that is being held today in Brussels to address the rural protests, Planas also pointed out that a new European pact is needed for farmers and rural areas.
BY: Mian Saeed Ahmed Khan
