Traffic around the Spanish capital was severely disrupted on Wednesday as farmers converged in the city center for a rally to protest against Spanish and EU agricultural policies.

Five columns of tractors headed for Madrid's Independence Square ahead of a march to the Agriculture Ministry. Traffic in some areas ground to a halt, and public transport also suffered much disruption, with protesters cramming the streets.

The protest comes on the heels of weeks of protests in various European countries, including Germany.  

Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said he hoped that the demonstration would proceed "in a peaceful manner and without any kind of violence." 

Some 150 tractors were blocked from entering the city, with the government saying that only the 500 vehicles registered by organizers when requesting authorization for the protest had been allowed in.

What do the farmers want?

Like their European counterparts, the Spanish farmers are calling for there to be less bureaucracy related to the European Union's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and for the bloc's environmental rules to be loosened.

They have also called for prices to properly reflect rising production costs.

Farmers want "to include the production costs in the end product so they don't end up selling their goods at a loss," top union representative Luis Cortes told TVE public television.

They also want to be protected from agricultural imports from abroad that are produced under less stringent regulation than in the EU, Cortes said.

Imported products should be subjected to "the same conditions that Spanish farmers have to face," Cortes said.  

Other protests called by Spain's three main agricultural unions Asaja, COAG and UPA have were also taking place on Wednesday in other areas such as Malaga and Murcia in the south, Caceres in the west and Palencia in the north.

Wednesday's rallies come despite measures pledged last week by Spain's left-wing government, with Planas among other things promising to ask the EU to simplify CAP and to request stricter controls on imported products.

tj/nm (EFE, Reuters, AFP)