The Spanish rural sector held a massive demonstration in Madrid in defense of the countryside

Tens of thousands of people from all over Spain participated this Sunday in Madrid in a large demonstration in defense of the rural world, which is very affected by high energy prices, which causes them to sell their products below the cost of production.

Some 1,500 buses arrived in the capital with the demonstrators, accompanied by tractors and animals, ranging from hunting dogs to horses, as a symbol of the rural world, along with the noise of trumpets, balloons and lots of color.

The demonstration, organized by the main agricultural and livestock organizations in Spain, started at the gates of the Ministry of Agriculture and runs along Paseo del Prado and Castellana, the main artery that runs through the capital from north to south, until it reaches the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.

Today's call was also joined by hunting associations and defenders of the fighting bull, as well as the parties Vox (far right), the conservative People's Party (PP) and Citizens (liberals), whose leaders attended the demonstration.

The goal, according to the organizers, is to “raise their voice and claim the future for the peoples” and they intend to make it their biggest manifestation after the pandemic, a period in which they were considered “essential” to ensure the supply of the population in full confinement.

They call for “a crash plan” that will address the high costs and low profitability of the sector, problems that have been aggravated by the war in Ukraine, with more fuel increases and the shortage of products such as cereals for livestock feed.

They also call for the application of the new Spanish law on the food chain, so that they can sell their products at fair prices and not below production costs.

All these problems make life in the countryside more and more unfeasible, leading to the abandonment of this sector by the younger population, which also results in depopulation in large areas of inland Spain.

In this regard, the deputy from Teruel Existe, Tomás Guitarte, the only representative in the Spanish Parliament of an unpopulated platform in Spain, declared today at the demonstration that “agriculture and the rural world can collapse” in the current situation.

For this reason, he said that the Government “must act quickly to solve immediate problems such as rising prices for fertilizers and diesel”.

To the problems already mentioned, the demonstration comes after a week of strike in freight transport due to the rise in fuel prices, which cut the food supply chain, even from the first link, preventing some milk producers from circulating their goods, as well as other products fresh as fruits and vegetables.

The sector also suffered during these months a prolonged drought that put the campaign for some crops at risk and before which the Government announced this week a package of fiscal, labor, financial and hydrological aid.

HISTORICAL QUOTES

The 20 M Rural is presented as a historic event that brings together for the first time sectors such as agriculture, livestock, hunting, fishing and many others related to the rural world, but also many others affected by the policies of the different regional administrations, central government and community institutions (EU) ).

At the demonstration, attendees speak out about the abandonment of the rural world by the Government and in the face of policies unable to solve the problems affecting rural men and women, who are being forced to abandon their way of life and customs.

(with information from EFE and EP)

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