Half a thousand tractors and at least 100 buses arrived in Madrid to join the farmers' protests that are now two weeks old. Coming from several cities in the interior of the country, hundreds of farmers with their respective tractors arrived in the Spanish capital with the intention of standing in front of the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, in Madrid (Spain). The unrest in the Spanish countryside, which for weeks has materialized with 'tractors raids' in the vast majority of Spanish cities, has reached Madrid. This Wednesday, at least 500 tractors, distributed in five columns and accompanied by about a hundred buses full of farmers, arrived in the capital with the aim of demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Agriculture. The tractors arrived from the surroundings of the capital to concentrate in a coordinated manner at the Puerta de Alcala (first point) from Torrejon de la Calzada, Arganda del Rey, Robregordo, El Espinar (Segovia) and Guadalajara. Spanish farmers and ranchers are protesting the crisis in the sector and the agricultural policies of the European Union, the Government and the Autonomous Communities. They maintain that their situation is extreme, which is why they demand urgent and coordinated action by the administrations. The demands of farmers are aligned with those of the European agricultural sector, seeking less bureaucracy, greater price control and stricter surveillance of exports. This protest in Madrid follows similar actions carried out in other Spanish regions, such as the 'tractors radis' in the ports of Tarragona, Mercabarna and Girona, as well as the entry of around 1,250 tractors into Barcelona on February 7. According to the Union of Unions, the organization that organized the protest, of the 1,500 tractors that have been mobilized, only 500 have been able to access the capital and only 70 have reached the doors of the ministry. (Photo by Hugo Ortuño)