Overview
- Five authorized columns of tractors converged on Plaza de Colón and moved along Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado to the Agriculture Ministry, disrupting traffic across central Madrid.
- Organizers reported about 8,000 participants and roughly 500 tractors, while the Madrid Government Delegation counted around 2,500 people and 367 tractors, with more than 1,800 police and Guardia Civil deployed.
- Protesters denounced what they call unfair competition from Mercosur imports produced under looser standards and objected to planned Common Agricultural Policy cuts, delivering formal demands to the ministry.
- The European Parliament this week adopted stricter safeguard triggers and sent the deal to the EU Court of Justice, pausing final approval, yet farm groups fear provisional application and warn of further mobilizations.
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez defended the agreement in Parliament, pointing to the new safeguards and compensation mechanisms, as organizers called for a negotiation table with authorities.