Thousands of Spanish farmers protest low prices

MADRID — Thousands of Spanish farmers marched Saturday through the streets of Madrid, halting traffic to protest the low prices they receive for their produce which they say is leading them to financial "ruin."

The farmers and their supporters came from across the country and they walked behind tractors along the Spanish capital's main avenues under banners with the theme "The countryside is heading towards ruin, take action."

Farmers say the price of machinery, fertilizers and seeds have risen while the amount they get for the grain, milk, olive oil and other products they produce has dropped.

"Prices must be held steady. Producing a kilogram of olives costs me three times more than the price they are sold for," a farmer from the southwestern region of Extremadura, Antonio Sanchez, told AFP.

Spain's largest farmers federations -- the ASAJA, COAG and UPA which organized the demonstration -- say farmers suffered a 26 percent drop in real income between 2003 and 2008, while their costs rose by 34 percent during this time, leading to the loss of 124,000 jobs.

They want the government to guarantee the minimum prices paid for their products by commercial middlemen who they say are taking too high a cut and limits on prices rises for fuel, fertilizers and pesticides.

"The cauliflower which I sell for 30 cents is resold for 1.50 euros in the supermarket. Profits must be shared, its unjust," said Fernando Ambros Carpi who runs a farming cooperative near the southern town of Arco de la Frontera.

The rally follows a strike by farmers on Friday in which unions say thousands downed their tools and gathered in village squares or blocked highways and roads with their tractors and other farm equipment.

Agriculture Minister Elena Espinosa said Spain would lobby for continued European Union financial support for farmers in the next reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) when it holds the rotating presidency of the bloc during the first half of next year.

"We want agriculture and cattle raising to continue being a strategic sector for our country," she added in comments broadcast on public radio RNE.

Spanish farmers are entitled to European Union agricultural subsidies and because prices fell so much this year the bloc has provided extra support.

Olive growers for example have received money to store their oil until the market recovers.

Spain's agriculture sector accounts for around three percent of the nation's gross domestic product.