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Cuerpo assures that the Spanish countryside will not be a “bargaining chip” in the agreement with Mercosur

by AI | 26.Jan 2026 | Europe in brief AI

Madrid – The Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, has assured that the Spanish countryside “will never be a bargaining chip in any trade agreement,” referring to the […]

Signing of the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur - Photo: European Union 17/01/26

Madrid – The Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, has assured that the Spanish countryside “will never be a bargaining chip in any trade agreement,” referring to the pact between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur.

“The countryside, our countryside, will never be a bargaining chip in any trade agreement,” Cuerpo stated in an interview on Telecinco reported by Europa Press.

Spanish farmers and ranchers will once again take to the streets and bring out their tractors from this Monday until next Friday, as a sign of protest against cuts to the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, despite the recent suspension of this pact by the European Parliament, considering that both factors could worsen the critical situation the countryside in Spain is going through.

Cuerpo has insisted that both he and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, understand the concern and are trying “to be able to convey the new elements it includes and the protection that this agreement with Mercosur provides.”

“There is a strengthening of border controls so that the products that enter comply with the same requirements that we demand of those produced in Spain,” the minister explained.

For his part, Cuerpo highlighted that there is an additional element of quotas or safeguards, which are activated if the products that are entering negatively affect our primary sector.

In addition, an aid fund has been established for those producers who may be harmed and, in parallel, negotiations are underway to increase the budget that the European Union (EU) allocates to a “fundamental” element for sovereignty, such as agriculture and the primary sector.

Mobilizations across Spain

These demonstrations, which are being promoted in a joint action by the Agrarian Association of Young Farmers (Asaja), the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG) and the Union of Small Farmers and Ranchers (UPA), are organizing these tractor protests throughout the national territory and are being maintained despite the recent decision by the European Parliament to suspend the EU-Mercosur agreement and send it to the Court of Justice (CJEU) of the European Union for review.

The gatherings of farmers and ranchers that will be carried out throughout the week will have their most notable day on the 29th, in what will be the ‘super Thursday’, the day that will bring together most of the demonstrations, where more than 25 tractor protests and rallies in various provinces have already been confirmed.

Thus, Valencia, Cádiz, Málaga, Zamora, Valladolid, Bilbao, Vitoria, Logroño, Murcia, Toledo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Mallorca, among others, have already confirmed tractor protests, while in Madrid there will also be mobilizations and a ‘protest stew’ is planned in the middle of Puerta del Sol. (January 26)