This Wednesday, February 11, Madrid was once again filled with tractors. From Guadalajara, Segovia, Toledo or the Community of Madrid itself, hundreds of farmers and ranchers toured the capital to protest against the direction that European agricultural policy is taking.
Convened by the Union of Farmers and Ranchers and the National Union of Independent Primary Sector Associations, more than 500 tractors have given voice to a long-standing unrest.
The main reason was the future reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which could mean cuts of between 22% and 28% of European aid, along with new environmental demands without sufficient financial support. For the Spanish countryside, the CAP is not a complement: it is the lifeline that keeps thousands of agricultural and livestock farms alive.
“They say we don’t work”
Juanjo is a tractor driver in Granada. Every day, he drives machinery worth more than 100,000 euros for several hours, with his body curled up in a cabin, paying attention to the terrain and the weather.
“I hope that more than one feels addressed, those who do not value the work of a tractor driver. They say that that is not work… sorry, you get to drive heavy machinery, with the responsibility that that entails,” the man confesses on his social networks.
At first glance it may seem like a quiet job, sitting and walking around the field, but the reality is very different. “I end up knackered in the back, waist and knee, everything, because of the rattling. And if something breaks, you have to explain to everyone. Right now I’m carrying a junk that’s worth more than 100,000 euros, look at the responsibility there is,” he says.
The Spanish tractor driver
According to the SEPE Occupations Observatory, in Spain there are about 125,000 professionals who operate agricultural machinery, but if self-employed workers and family members who drive regularly are added, the figure is close to 700,000 people.
The problem is not how many there are, but the generational change: more than 60% are already over 50 years old. And every year, more tractor drivers retire than enter the trade. Even in many towns, finding someone who knows how to drive a modern tractor, with GPS systems and digital control, has become almost an impossible mission.
However, the salary is not always worth it. A salaried worker can earn between 1,200 and 1,500 euros per month, although it can even reach 2,500 euros in high season.
It is a job that, as Juanjo comments, sooner or later affects health. According to the National Institute of Safety and Health at Work (INSST), the tractor driver is one of the agricultural professions with the highest incidence of chronic ailments due to the constant vibrations that ‘crush’ the back, forced postures that generate joint or neck injuries, without forgetting hearing loss and respiratory problems caused by constant noise and dust.
All this in days that are close to 12 hours a day. Time that is often spent in silence, without pause or movement and that, in the end, ends up leaving a permanent mark on the worker’s body.