Thousands of Spanish farmers demonstrated in another massive protest in Madrid yesterday, which coincided with an important agriculture meeting in Brussels.

Government officials revealed that at least 5,000 farmers and 100 tractors joined the rally in Madrid.

This protest was organized by the country's three main agricultural unions, which are currently in talks with the Spanish government.

The protests were also targeted against the European Commission's office in Madrid yesterday amid the bloc’s agricultural ministers' meeting in Brussels. The ministers gathered to discuss methods that could be taken to make the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more efficient as the latter has raised tensions among farmers across Europe. 

The President of the ASAJA farmers’ union, Pedro Barato, told journalists at the rally, “Who knows what’s better — someone sitting in an office in Brussels or a farmer anywhere around Spain?” 

The head of the COAG union, Miguel Padilla, also said, "The EU has to do a 180-degree turn on its agricultural policy. It has gone too far."

Before the Brussels meeting

Before the meeting in Brussels, Spanish Agricultural Minister Luis Planas stated that politicians had an “opportunity” to improve the system and warned of “coming up short.”

“We are facing a European challenge so we need a European solution,” he informed media yesterday adding, “We need a new European pact for our farmers and our rural communities.”

He emphasized that Spain would urge the bloc to ease certain environmental regulations, crop rotation rules, and remove or restrict the need for farmers to upload “geo-located photos” of their activities.

He added that the EU should present what is known as “mirror clauses” in trade agreements with non-EU countries to make sure that they do not use any chemical products banned in Europe.

During the Brussels meeting 

Monday saw violent protests as farmers gathered near the European Quarter in Brussels, in an attempt to disrupt a ministerial meeting of the EU countries on agricultural matters, Belgian news sources reported. 

According to the Sudinfo.be news portal, protesters were seen throwing eggs at the Lex building near Robert Schuman Square. In another area of the Quarter, demonstrators reportedly dismantled construction barriers and threw them at law enforcement officers.

Tankers were seen dumping manure on roads, and tractors tore down police barriers. Protesters also threw Molotov cocktails, compelling police officers to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.  

Haystacks were reportedly scattered throughout the entire European Quarter, reports said. Earlier in the day, farmers succeeded in breaking through police barriers at the intersection of Avenue d'Auderghem and Rue Belliard with their equipment. They also ignited a stack of tires, necessitating the use of water cannons by the police to extinguish the flames.

Approximately 900 tractors are said to be partaking in the rally organized by the Federation of Agricultural Trade Unions (FUGEA), the Wallonian Agricultural Federation (FWA), the Young Farmers' Federation (FJA), and the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC).