Farmer’s protest in Spain brings attention to rural concerns

Farmers, cattle breeders, hunters, and opposition sympathisers gathered on Madrid on Sunday to protest Spain’s left-of-center government’s environmental and economic policies, which they claim are harming rural regions.

Alma Rural 2021, a platform uniting over 500 rural organisations from across Spain, coordinated the rally on Sunday. Opposition members, ranging from centrists to far-right sympathisers, were also present.

The protest took place as Spanish politicians campaigned ahead of an early election in Castilla-Leon, a huge region northeast of Madrid where anti-depopulation and anti-agricultural policies are front and centre.

The rally, according to Carlos Bueno, president of Alma Rural 2021, was held to bring attention to rural concerns in the face of what he called “ideological” government attacks. Concerns ranged from agricultural product price regulation to protections for bullfight cattle breeders and increased support for rural sectors.

Protesters walked from the gates of the Ecology Transition Ministry — the previous Environment Ministry — to the Agriculture Ministry, led by tractors and bull carts, through a Madrid boulevard. “Farmers speak,” read one of the many placards hoisted by protesters. “Who’s paying attention?”

According to Spain’s Ministry of Ecological Transition, the country’s budget for 2022 contains 4.2 billion euros ($4.7 billion) to combat rural depopulation. In a statement, it argued that the rural world of Spain “needs political involvement and resource to solve historical problems, not populist rhetoric.”

Since Consumer Minister Alberto Garzón, a member of the far-left  and a junior partner in the Socialist-led administration, criticised big cattle operations for damaging the environment and producing low-quality food for export, a spat over industrial livestock farming has dominated headlines for the past month.

His comments sparked a political tempest, causing splits within the ruling coalition and prompting calls for Garzón’s resignation from right-wing opposition groups.