12,000 Moroccan seasonal workers expected for the agricultural campaign in Huelva

About 12,000 Moroccan seasonal workers will travel to Huelva for the picking of strawberries and red fruits for the upcoming agricultural campaign.

According to Spanish media outlets, new workers will not be selected this year, as only women with previous contracts will be sent to Huelva.

The number of seasonal workers that will be traveling to Huelva for the upcoming campaign will be significantly reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the 2019-2020 campaign, seasonal workers had to fulfill certain criteria in order to travel to Huelva, such as they can’t be over 39, unmarried or childless.

The seasonal workers for this agricultural campaign will travel through Algeciras. To enter Spain, they must have a negative PCR test carried out less than 72 hours before travel, according to Spanish media.

Each year, thousands of Moroccan women leave their families to travel to Spain as part of a circular migration program, to work in the picking of red fruits.

However, these seasonal workers are often the subject of exploitation, abuse, and sometimes even sexual assault.

In 2018, the Moroccan government launched an awareness campaign against exploitation and sexual abuse after at least 10 seasonal workers were harassed when picking strawberries in Huelva, according to Infomigrants’website.