Old Images From Netherland And Germany Circulated As Farmers' Protest In Spain Inspired By Farmers' Protest In India

Many social media users are sharing four images of tractors parading on the streets. People are sharing the images with the claim that these are of a farmers' protest that happened in Spain and is inspired by the ongoing farmers' protest in India.

Those sharing the photos are claiming that the people in Spain, after taking inspiration from Indian farmers, protested demanding that the products must not be sold above the Minimum Support Price (MSP), and the government of Spain instantly heard the demand and passed the law that no products should be sold below MSP.

The netizens are sharing the posts with the caption, which translates in English as "This is called the government for the public. The farmers of Spain took inspiration from Indian farmers and held demonstration; the government took cognizance of it and immediately passed a law that no product will be sold below its MSP. It's only our rulers who are avoiding to make any law so that they can fill the pockets of their rich friends."

The post is viral on Facebook.

The image is also rife on Twitter.

Claim:

Viral images are of farmers' agitation in Spain inspired by farmers' protest in India.

Fact Check:

There are no recent media reports about the farmers protesting in Spain demanding MSP, except for the one published by The Tribune on March 6, 2020. This article speaks about the amendment in Spain's 2013 food supply chain law (under the new 'Royal Decree-Law 5/2020'), which became effective from February 27, 2021. According to this new law, it will be ensured 'that the price agreed between the primary agricultural, livestock, fishery or forestry producer or a group thereof and its primary purchaser covers the effective cost of production.' In easy words, a penalty will be imposed in Spain if any trading happens below the MSP.

On further research, we found that the farmers' in Spain were indeed protesting against the continued decrease in profits and demand systematic change in the industry, according to a report published by AA.com.tr on February 14, 2020. But here, one thing to notice is that the farmers' protest in India started in August and these Indian farmers marched towards Delhi on November 26, 2020, long after the agitation in Spain.

According to a report published on November 2, 2020, by a website Food Plaza, "The Socialist spokesperson for Agriculture in Spanish Congress, Manuel González Ramos, announced that the Council of Ministers of Spain will approve the bill to reform the food chain for the transposition of the European directive on unfair commercial practices on Tuesday (November 3)." Industry Global 24, another website also spoke about the reformation in Spain's agriculture law that happened on November 3.

Hence, while the farmers in Spain had protested, demanding to change the law of the food chain in order to address certain imbalances in the formation of prices, these farmers protested long before the Indian farmers' started protesting.

The Logical Indian also searched and found that all the four viral images were not of Spain but of Netherland and Germany, and were of much before the farmers' protest in India.

Image 1:

On the reverse image search, we found that the same image was published on a website, Euro Topics. The image was published on November 28, 2019, and as per the caption, it was of Berlin, Germany and not Spain. The caption of the image said, "Thousands of tractors lined up in front of Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday and there was traffic chaos and hay on the Champs-Elysées on Wednesday. But it's not only in Germany and France that farmers are venting their anger. In the Netherlands and Denmark, for example, they're demonstrating against new environmental regulations and for better pay. Are the farmers' protests justified?".

Image 2:

On the reverse image search, we found that the above image was published in Taiwan News on October 2, 2019. The image was of farmers protesting in Netherland against being unfairly singled out by the government for nitrogen emissions that pollute the environment.

Image 3:

The reverse image search of this picture led to a website Agencia EFE. This image was published on the website on October 1, 2019, and was of Netherland. According to the caption of the image, farmers blocked the A28 Highway with their tractors between Hoogeveen and Meppel in the Netherlands, to protest against the issues affecting the agricultural sector.

Image 4:

The above image is also of Netherlands. The image was published by the website Noordhollands Dagblad on October 16, 2019, and was of the tractors protest around De Bilt, a municipality in The Netherlands.

Hence, all of the four viral images are of farmers' protest but are old and not associated with Spain.

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