Hundreds of tractors take to the streets of Madrid this Wednesday to protest the situation in agriculture throughout the European Union, which puts at risk a fundamental sector for the Spanish economy, such as the primary sector, from which thousands of families live.
Mónica, nurse, daughter and granddaughter of farmers, come from Albacete to support the demands. “It cannot be that they crush the primary sector with bureaucracy, with taxes… there are products that in the end have to be thrown away, they are prices that have to be valued and put on the table,” he explains together with his colleague Víctor.
“The Spanish countryside is dying, due to the new sick policy,” says one of the banners displayed at the Puerta de Alcalá, where protesters have gathered who will later head towards the Ministry of Agriculture, in Atocha.. “There are too many papers, there are no solutions. Essential sector in terminal phase”, reads another of the slogans of the march.
“I come from Segovia,” says María, who works in an agricultural cooperative and has come by bus to the capital.. “The measures that have been taken are not enough, there should be more people at the table,” he claims while holding a flag of the Union of Unions, one of the organizations that the Government has not considered as interlocutors – unlike others such as UPA. , COAG and Asaja—and that has called for the tractor-trailers with five columns this Wednesday.
The objective of Unión de Uniones is to demand solutions for the countryside against the department led by Luis Planas, since they consider that the 18 measures announced last Thursday are insufficient and address the problems of the countryside “in a superficial manner”. “None of them are going to allow any of the sector's problems to be fixed,” warns Luis Cortés, state coordinator of the organization.
People from all over Spain and of all ages have gathered in the protests.. Santiago came this morning from Paredes, a small town in the province of Cuenca. “They have locked them up in Arganda like cattle, they have not let them out,” he protests about the colleagues who have been prevented by the Civil Guard from entering the capital for exceeding the limit of 500 tractors that the Government Delegation had authorized to enter the the streets of Madrid. “They haven't paid me the subsidy, nothing because of the drought, the fertilizer is so expensive that it can't even be thrown away, the diesel is skyrocketing, we have to plant what they say…. the rules are impossible to comply with,” he laments.
Dressed in a hat and well wrapped up in the morning cold with which the center of Madrid has woken up, Juan, who comes from the north of Cáceres, from Mohedas de Granadilla, livens up the morning with traditional music from the Extremaduran shepherds. “The food chain law is not complied with, products are paid below cost,” denounces this farmer, who is part of an association of olive growers and who has come to make “noise and bring some music” to the central Plaza. of the independence. “Products that come from abroad are almost poisoned and should have the same requirements as Spanish ones,” he says.
Alfredo Romero, a farmer from Cuenca, went to the Ministry of Agriculture this Wednesday. The protester assures that the day has developed “calmly” and “without incidents” and that at 5:00 p.m. he abandons the call because, although he would like to stay longer, the bus with which he returns to Cuenca “is not waiting for anyone.”. Furthermore, he highlights the importance of attending the demonstration because “if you don't make noise, no one will listen to you.”
José Carlos, a farmer from Estremera, a town in the southeast of Madrid, left with his tractor in the direction of the heart of the capital at six in the morning and assures that at the height of Arganda del Rey, halfway along the route, they have stopped and they have not let them leave. After the situation was resolved – the Civil Guard has collaborated with them and guided them, according to 20minutos -, they have taken the path again and have participated in an experience that they describe as “incredible.”. The objective, as he remembers, is “to fight for their rights and those of the entire population.”
From the vicinity of the Atocha station and with the headquarters of the department directed by Luis Planas in the background, Ángel, another farmer who arrived by bus from Villacañas, regrets that they have not allowed the rest of the tractors that have remained stopped on the promenade to pass. of Delights. “They told us that they were going to let 500 tractors pass and they have only let 30 pass,” says the protester.
Farmer protests have taken place throughout Spain over the last two weeks. The field asks that the food chain law be correctly applied to put an end to sales at a loss, as well as a reduction in bureaucracy when accessing aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and an equalization of the requirements required of imports to avoid unfair competition.