The tractors will return to the streets of Madrid this Monday, but they will not do so alone, they will arrive reinforced by the fishermen's union, which has announced to support the march in defense of the primary sector.
The meeting will start at the Ministry of Agriculture - where 4,000 farmers gathered this Thursday - and from there the protesters from Asaja, COAG and UPA will head to the Madrid headquarters of the European Parliament, north of the capital.
The destination point is not random.
That same day, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Luis Planas, will meet with his counterparts in Brussels to discuss the flexibility of agricultural policies in Europe and the introduction of mirror clauses, which are the main demands that the sector has claimed in its three weeks of uprisings.
The fishing and aquaculture sector has indicated that the endorsement aims to "reinforce the support that it has expressed since its inception for the common demands with farmers and ranchers."
In that sense, they have criticized the environmental policy of the European Commission, the administrative complexity, the “unfair” competition from third countries and the lack of incentives to promote generational change.
Added to this are other problems specific to the fishing sector, such as the drop in fish consumption and the "indifference" of the Government in the face of repeated requests to reduce VAT for incentives, according to the organizations.
“With this act we give the starting signal to our demand to solve our problems once and for all and take advantage of the constitution of a new European Parliament to change its perception and assessment of its own primary sector,” the fishing sector organizations have stated. in his statement.
The support of the fishermen has come as a surprise to the tripartite agricultural associations that have described the statement as “positive”.
“It is evident that we share problems and demands with the fishing sector,” shared Diego Juste, spokesperson for Upa.
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Why are farmers protesting in Spain?
The march has been supported, specifically, by the Spanish Aquaculture Business Association (Apromar), the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (Cepesca), the National Federation of Provincial Associations of Fish and Frozen Products Retailers (Fedepesca) and the National Federation of Fishermen's Guilds (FNCP).
On this Monday, as specified by the groups, representatives of all the country's fleets and ports, as well as aquaculture and specialized trade, will participate.
The union has even announced that more than a thousand squid sandwiches will be distributed among all attendees, as "a way to encourage consumers to participate in the demands of the primary sector."
The fishermen's announcement puts more pressure on the Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock portfolio, which has already brought farmers to the negotiating table on two occasions.
As a result of the second, its head announced a battery of measures, among which are improving price control in Spain and maintaining diesel subsidies, as well as making the use of the digital notebook optional.
However, much of this package must be approved by the Commission for its entry into force.
This Monday, Minister Planas will have an opportunity before the Council to convince community partners to approve these changes.
According to a statement from the Ministry, Planas will negotiate changes in crop rotation, the maintenance of non-productive surfaces or the requirement for georeferenced photos, although the prognosis is not favorable, the minister announced this Thursday that there is no favorable majority in the Twenty-Seven .
However, Brussels has begun to listen to the sector's discomfort and, for now, has announced that it will simplify inspection mechanisms in the field.
Itinerary of the new protest
The Government Delegation of Madrid has reported that from 9:00 a.m. this Monday a total of 100 tractors are scheduled to travel from the Madrid town of Arganda del Rey to the Ministry of Agriculture in the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V. After Upon the arrival of the vehicles, a delegation of protesters will join together on foot and together they will head from Paseo de la Castellana to number 46 of this street, where the Spanish office of the European Parliament is located, there a rally will be held and will conclude the demonstration.
The Delegation's permission extends until 3:00 p.m.
The return will follow the same route of entry to the capital.
The capital was already the scene of a march called by the fourth group of the countryside, the Union of Unions (Udu), which managed to get at least 500 tractors to the heart of the capital through five different routes.
The agricultural organization came to call the measures “garbage”, believing that what the sector needs is a structural change of the CAP, focused on the economic benefits that farmers obtain and with less attention to environmental problems.
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