Protesting Spanish farmers drive hundreds of tractors to Madrid

Farmers in Madrid protest red tape and demand state aid, joining European counterparts in anti-bureaucracy demonstrations.

Convoys of tractors disrupted traffic around the Spanish capital on February 21 as farmers protesting against what they see as excessive red tape and insufficient state aid converged in downtown Madrid to march towards the Agriculture Ministry.

Farmers have been protesting for weeks across European countries, most recently including Poland, Greece and the Czech Republic. They all call for a reduction of bureaucracy linked to the European Union's Common Agriculture Policy and a loosening of the bloc's environmental rules.

As they waited for five columns of tractors to reach the gathering point at the central Independence Square, protesters wearing yellow vests waved Spanish flags and rang cow bells there while blaring music from loudspeakers.

Traffic around the Puerta de Alcala monument ground to a halt, with several buses unable to continue their routes as protesters crowded the streets.

Some farmers complained that police were preventing tractors from entering Madrid. The government said that 500 tractors had been allowed entry — as that was the figure given by organisers when requesting authorisation for the protest — while an additional 150 vehicles were blocked from the city.

Two of the five columns had already arrived, the government said, adding that the only incident of note was the blockade of the A42 motorway connecting Toledo to Madrid, which had been broken up by the police.

Lucia Risueno, a 52-year-old vineyard farmer from the Castille-La Mancha region, said that authorities had failed to help the sector and called for fairer prices.