Greenpeace activists climb Madrid tower to protest US-EU trade deal

MADRID - Reuters

REUTERS photo

Greenpeace activists held a high-rise protest in Madrid on May 17, scaling a tower to oppose a free trade agreement being negotiated between the United States and European Union.

Greenpeace is against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, saying alongside other critics that it would give too much power to big business at the expense of consumers and governments. 

Supporters say it would deliver more than $100 billion of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic. 

The activists began their protest at 0700 a.m. (0500GMT), climbing one of the city's twin Kio Towers and unfurling banners reading "No to the TTIP" on one of its facades. 

They climbed down voluntarily in the late afternoon after over nine hours on the tower.