What was initially intended as a demonstration by farmers and pig breeders has in recent weeks grown into a protest demanding more attention to the increasingly depopulated Spanish countryside. The mass demonstration on Sunday came a day after several thousand protesters, called by the far-right Vox party, held a protest march through Madrid.
The large rural demonstration, estimated by police to have drawn 150,000 people but according to organizers 400,000, was organized by the Rural Alliance, which claims to represent 10 million people in Spain.
“This government is a mess, fuel keeps getting more expensive,” said organizer Nora Guzman from atop a green tractor from Pozuelo de Alarcon, on Madrid’s western edge. “Today is the beginning to look for solutions,” said Pedro Barato, head of the agricultural employers’ organization Asaja, to journalists.
Food producers complain about rising fuel and fertilizer prices amid low profits. They also criticized the center-left government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for pushing through animal welfare regulations that limit dog breeding or hunting.
Last year, energy prices in Spain rose by 72 percent, one of the highest increases within the European Union. Costs have risen even further since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, in a crisis following the coronavirus pandemic.
Last Monday, Spanish truck drivers announced an indefinite strike over fuel prices, which quickly escalated to multiple road blockades and protests, causing problems in the supply chain. As a result, the transport of many agricultural products in the Spanish countryside has also partially come to a halt.