Farmers stage ‘largest protest ever’

Farmers protesting against government policies, many of them at the wheel of tractors, snaked through several streets of Beja yesterday to demand changes in the sector and the resignation of Minister Maria do Céu Antunes. This latter demand is one that has been voiced repeatedly during the minister’s tenure. Eduardo Oliveira e Sousa, President of the Portuguese Farmers Confederation (CAP), believes it was “the largest demonstration held in the country (of farmers) ever. “We have something like 800 tractors in the streets”, he told Lusa. The protest comes as even President Marcelo is speaking out against the ‘tired’ executive that, in his opinion – and the opinion of so many others – is navigating ‘day-by-day’ with no strategic plan for Portugal’s future.