Madrid Tractor Protest: Spanish Farmers Fight Imports
Hundreds of tractors rolled into central Madrid on Wednesday as Spanish farmers continued their protests, denouncing what they see as unfair competition from countries outside the European Union.
In five columns of tractors, the farmers converged on central Madrid for a demonstration outside the Ministry of Agriculture. The protest comes three weeks after the start of the farmers' movement in Spain.
The farmers want to recoup their production costs to stop selling at a loss, demanding "better control of imports" into Spain, Luis Cortés, national coordinator of Union de Uniones, told public television RTVE.
These imported products must "respect the same constraints as those imposed on Spanish farmers," added Cortés, deeming recent measures by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez insufficient.
In addition to the Madrid protest, other demonstrations are scheduled for Wednesday in Spain, notably in Murcia (southeast) and Malaga (south). This time called by three representative organisations in the agricultural sector (Asaja, COAG, and UPA).
Spanish farmers have been protesting since February 1. They have met several times with the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas. He pledged to support a simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Brussels and to improve Spanish food chain legislation to prevent farmers from selling their products at a loss.
The European Commission has also made several concessions to farmers in recent weeks, who are protesting in several European countries ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
