Business & Economy

Spain’s farmers, truckers protest EU cuts to subsidies

Madrid, Feb 12 (EFE).- Spanish farmers on Monday took to streets across the country, including in Madrid province, for the seventh consecutive day to protest against European Union cuts to agricultural subsidies.

Spanish farmers have joined their colleagues in France and other European countries in recent weeks in demanding changes to EU policy, including more flexibility in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), an extension of the temporary tax reduction on agricultural diesel and aid for sectors affected by the ongoing drought in the country.

The protests condemn the “pressure” applied by EU policies which “threaten the viability of farms,” the provincial general secretary of the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG) in Madrid, Ivana Martinez, told EFE on Monday.

Farmers and ranchers in 50 or 60 tractors began their protest convoy at 9am from the municipality of Titulcia, and were heading to Torrejón de Velasco, both located in the south of Madrid province.

Spanish truck drivers were also protesting, holding a second day of strikes to demand more favorable tax cuts and petrol subsidies.

Despite the fact that the National Federation of Transport Associations of Spain (Fenadismer), which brings together more than 32,000 trucking companies and more than 60,000 vehicles, has not supported the strike, the National Platform for the Defense of Transport on Monday on social media urged Spain’s truck drivers to mobilize.

The government, which sympathizes with the farmers’ and truckers’ demands, has urged the protests to remain peaceful.

On Monday, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, said he will present a proposal to simplify the CAP and will address the EU’s food supply chain law and other issues such as agricultural insurance at an EU Council later this month. EFE

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