Five columns of tractors —more than 1,500 in total—and more than 8,000 people are expected to fill the streets of Madrid on Wednesday, February 11, in a large demonstration called by the Union of Farmers and Ranchers in protest against the EU-Mercosur agreement under the slogan #TractoresAlaCalle.
The march will proceed from Plaza de Colón to the door of the Ministry of Agriculture, where a protest will take place with the participation of all the regional organizations, according to Anastasio Yébenes, head of agricultural sectors for the organization.
The Madrid protest—where a similar demonstration took place in February 2024 under the slogan “We have plenty of reasons”—will be the last stop in a series of protests being held across the country between January 26 and 30.
Why are they mobilizing? The EU-Mercosur agreement and beyond
Editorial credit: David Raw / Shutterstock.com
The EU-Mercosur agreement is one of the central themes of the protest: the controversial pact, which has been under negotiation for more than two decades, is a cause for concern in the agricultural sector as it involves, among other issues, facilitating the entry of agricultural products from the countries that make up the Southern Common Market (Mercosur): Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
In Spain, the agricultural sector complains that they are not competing on equal terms, as neither the phytosanitary requirements nor the working conditions or labor costs are the same, meaning that Mercosur producers can compete in Europe by offering cheaper products.
However, this is not the only reason behind this large-scale mobilization: Unión de Uniones also refers to “other trade agreements in the pipeline that also affect the agricultural sector, as well as other political movements that mean farmers and livestock breeders always end up footing the bill.”
More specifically, concerns revolve around the CAP’s EU budget, which could be cut by between 15% and 22%, excessive bureaucracy in farm management, animal health problems, and the lack of generational renewal in the countryside.