Asaja, COAG and Unión de Uniones are working on a new calendar of agricultural protests after suspending the large tractor rally that was to be held yesterday in Madrid, a decision they adopted as a gesture of respect toward the victims of the rail accident. At the same time, they have expressed their recognition of the "exemplary" behavior of the thousands of farmers and ranchers, as well as the 500 tractors that arrived from different parts of Spain, who gathered this Wednesday in the capital.
The professional farming organizations have emphasized that "there are moments when a demand, however just it may be, must give way to the pain of a country," reiterating their condolences to the families of the deceased and their wish for a speedy recovery for the injured.
In their joint statement, they have insisted that "we want to thank the thousands of farmers and ranchers who came to Madrid from all over Spain, and those who brought the half thousand tractors that were already in the capital, for the effort made and the serenity with which they accepted the call-off. They returned to their farms as they had come: with respect. That attitude says more about the countryside than any banner".
Given the impossibility of personally delivering their demands during yesterday's day, the three organizations have registered this morning at the Ministry of Agriculture the list of demands that underpinned the canceled demonstration.
At the same time, Asaja, COAG and Unión de Uniones have made it clear that the "mobilization is postponed, but its reasons are not," recalling that soaring production costs, a CAP threatened by cuts, an Agricultural Supply Chain Law that is not applied, trade agreements that impose unfair competition and bureaucracy that prevents working remain underlying problems that do not vanish with the passage of time or with the electoral calendar.
In this line, the agricultural sector has reiterated that "these are not demands of the moment, but of the survival of a sector that feeds everyone," and has stressed that these protests "are not linked to any political date" and are "raised before this Government and before the one that comes out of the polls, whoever governs".
The governing bodies of the three agricultural organizations are scheduled to meet in the coming days to close a new calendar of mobilizations, which they will make public once a definitive agreement is reached.