Tractors choke Spanish city streets as farmers protest EU policy

Farmers use their tractors to block the C-33 highway as they drive to Barcelona during a protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, grievances shared by farmers across Europe, in Barcelona, Spain, February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Albert Gea

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish farmers drove tractors through city streets disrupting traffic on Thursday as they stepped up their protest against soaring costs, bureaucracy and cheap competition from outside the European Union.

The protests, which started spontaneously on Tuesday after spilling over from other EU countries, are backed by the country's three main farmers' associations.