Sawt Falasteen - Tractors gather in central Madrid in farmers' protest

Farmers slowly drove around 15 tractors, some decorated with Spanish flags, to the building which sits across the street from Madrid's busy Atocha train station, snarling traffic.

Once there they parked and unfurled banners that read "Farmers on a war path" and "Planas, the ruin of the countryside".

Around 250 farmers and agricultural union representatives gathered in the rain ahead of the meeting. Most had arrived by bus from other regions of Spain.

Planas was due to meet with Spain's main agricultural unions, Asaja, COAG and UPA, later on Thursday, a day after he met with the major players in the food supply chain

Farmers on Wednesday blocked roads across the country, especially in the south where they disrupted the first stage of a cycling race and in the northeastern region of Catalonia where they blocked parts of the AP-7 highway linking Spain and France.

Angry farmers have been protesting across Europe over rising costs, high fuel prices, bureaucracy and the environmental requirements in the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its forthcoming "Green Deal".

Spanish farmers are also protesting low prices for their produce and the lack of financial aid to the sector.

The unions are planning a huge rally in front of the agriculture ministry on February 21, and will rally again in Madrid on February 26 to coincide with the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels.

Often referred to as Europe's vegetable garden, Spain is one of the bloc's leading producers of salad, fruit and vegetables but its farms have suffered from a long-running drought in the Iberian Peninsula for the past three years.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST