“The farming world is dying”: the Spanish peasant protest movement arrived today in the center of Madrid where huge convoys of tractors with drivers they demonstrated against the uncertainty in the sector as in many European countries.

Thousands of farmers from across Spain took to the streets of Madrid in a concert of horns, cowbells and drums, responding to the call of the Union de Uniones and farmers’ groups mobilized on social media.

Between them, 500 managed to reach the city center on tractors according to the prefecture. Arranged in five phalanxes of about a hundred vehicles each, they arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture behind banners that read: “the rural world is dying” or “without the countryside, the city does not eat”.

The culmination of a movement of anger that began three weeks ago, in the wake of protests organized mainly in France and Germany, this demonstration led to many traffic jams and caused some tensions with the forces of order.

“Let’s hear each other”

“What we want is to be heard, for the authorities to understand that we can’t go on like this,” Jose Ignatio Rojo, 58, who came from Burgos (north) to demonstrate against prices “that don’t allow us to live” and a “bureaucracy” which he characterizes as excessive.

“I work 14 hours a day. And when I finish my day in the field, there are always papers waiting for me,” he says, who owns a 3,300-acre farm with grain and livestock with his daughter.

The baton is taken by Bernardino Hernandez, who came to demonstrate with a banner that reads: “bureaucracy is destroying my farm”. “All about management. I would need a full-time person, it’s impossible,” says the 70-year-old farmer.

Owner of an area of ​​400 hectares near Cuenca (center), this vintner previously employed three employees. “Today I only have one, due to the drop in the price of grapes,” he explains: “I’m working, but I’m losing money.”

Asked on public television, Union de Uniones national coordinator Luis Cortes called on the Spanish government to do more to “simplify” administrative procedures and protect farmers, many of whom are forced to “sell at a loss”.

Better “import control” is needed, the union leader said, blaming unfair competition from products imported from non-European countries. They should be “subject to the same restrictions” on the environment “as those imposed on Spanish farmers”, he insisted.

In addition to the demonstration in Madrid, many rallies took place today in Spain, mainly in Murcia (southeast), Palencia (north) and Malaga (south); following a call this time by three professional organizations representing the sector: Asaja, COAG and UPA.

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“Mirror measures”

In a statement, Agriculture Minister Luis Planas assured that he is “fully involved” in order to “bring answers to farmers’ concerns”, recalling that he announced last week a package of support measures in the sector after a meeting with unions.

The minister also re-committed on Monday in Brussels to the implementation of “mirror measures”, a mechanism which provides that imported products must comply with the same rules required for European farmers.

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