Several hundred tractors began to converge on the center of Madrid on Wednesday on the occasion of a new day of mobilization of Spanish farmers, who denounce in particular the competition deemed unfair from certain countries outside the EU.
Gathered at the call of the union Union de Uniones (the Union of Trade Unions), the demonstrators gathered at dawn in different municipalities in the Madrid region, behind banners demanding in particular “
fair prices”
for farmers.
Gathered in five columns of tractors, they set off towards the center of Madrid, where a demonstration is planned for the beginning of the afternoon in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, three weeks after the start of the angry movement agriculture in the country.
Farmers want to be able to
“pass on production costs in the final price of their products so as not to sell at a loss”
and are demanding better
“import control”
in Spain, explained Luis Cortés, national coordinator of Union de Uniones, on the public television channel RTVE.
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Demonstrations since February 1
These imported products must
“be subject to the same constraints as those imposed on Spanish farmers
,” added Mr. Cortés, believing that the measures unveiled in recent days by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez were insufficient.
In addition to this Madrid gathering, others are planned for Wednesday in Spain, notably in Murcia (south-east) and Malaga (south), this time at the call of the three professional organizations representing the sector (Asaja, COAG and UPA). .
Spanish farmers have been demonstrating continuously in the country since February 1.
They were received on several occasions by the Minister of Agriculture Luis Planas, who undertook in particular to defend in Brussels a simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to improve the Spanish law on the food chain to prevent farmers do not sell their products at a loss.
The European Commission has also made concessions in recent weeks to farmers protesting in several countries across Europe, ahead of European elections in early June.