Several hundred farmers from different parts of Spain carried out an act of protest with tractors through the center of Madrid to ask the Government for measures against the "real ruin" that the countryside is experiencing.
Their mobilization threw the center of the capital into chaos, with traffic jams, angry passers-by and taxi travelers arriving late at the airport. "You know, Madrid is the national manifestódromo, but it's tired ...", said Javier, who -desperate- had to abandon the bus number 9 of the EMT at the height of Recoletos. " I'm late for work."
His testimony was not the only one, in a city stopped in its bowels by the tractor invasion. The most cautious Madrilenians avoided land transport, opting for the Metro. But those who did not, fell into the networks of protest. "It will be fair, but it is a nuisance," lamented Sonia, hurried mid-morning to her office, already on foot. "Well, let's walk, that's what there is."
One of the tractors participating in the mobilization.A. NAVARRETE
In the front row of the demonstration, their motives. "The present is very bad with the drought, accompanied by some very bad years, so just as we support the automotive or tourism sectors, we must also support agriculture. That is what must be done when the new Government enters, "said Josep Carles Vicente Perelló, spokesman for the Union of Unions of Farmers and Ranchers.
The farmers, who have left the Puerta de Alcalá on Wednesday in the direction of the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, demanded aid to face the drought and high production costs, as well as speed to approve more measures.
The State Coordinator of Union of Unions, Luis Cortés Isidro, threatened: "This no longer goes with Minister Planas, who is already a candidate of the PSOE for Córdoba, this is a wake-up call to whoever is going to enter here, who pay attention to us or we set fire to the entire Ministry. "
The farmers cross with their tractors in front of the facade of the Ministry, in Atocha.JAVIER LIZÓNEFE
Summoned by the organization, the farmers have arrived in the Spanish capital after several days of route from autonomies such as Extremadura, Castilla y León, Valencia, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia. "We already asked the Minister what the sector needed to fight against drought, today we did not come to ask, today we came to demand," Perelló said.
The agricultural organization Union of Unions calculates that the approved aid can only cover 3% of the losses that are occurring, and demands "greater forcefulness" and responsibility to the current Government and to the one that conforms after the general elections of July 23.
"Yesterday they wanted to call us off and the Ministry published the order for the development of aid, between 24 and 40 euros per hectare, and with that they think they are going to dismiss us," said Cortés.
In particular, they see the need to make the CAP more flexible so that aid is not lost; hydrological planning that makes "the maximum" use of water; agricultural insurance that responds "truly" to the emergency situation; delay the application of the digital notebook and "compensate for the extra cost" it entails for farms.
In addition, they demand guarantees for the supply of water and food at "reasonable" prices to livestock, as well as preventing and compensating for damage to agriculture and livestock "due to the overpopulation of wildlife."
The demonstrators carried banners in which they assure that in the field 'A great drought, urgent measures', while the horns of the tractors sounded more than they could, as an act of protest.
In addition, the three columns of tractors have been received with the cry of "Brave!" after traveling dozens of kilometers to reach the capital.
The march ended after noon in front of the headquarters of the Ministry, fireworks, horns and chants, closed the act carried out by the organization. Traffic was slow to recover from the tractor.
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