Spanish red fruit fields receive more than 3,700 Moroccan workers for harvest season

More than 3,700 Moroccan female seasonal workers have arrived in Spanish fields to work in harvesting strawberries and red fruits, as another 667 women are expected to arrive in the upcoming days “to complete the first phase of the contracted unit.”

According to Spanish authorities, 3,402 workers are expected to arrive in the second phase, and 1,911 visas have already been issued out of the total licenses that are supposed to be granted. This phase is scheduled to start on February 7.

It is expected that about 15,000 seasonal workers will arrive throughout the campaign in the Spanish province, including a new group of 5,000 people, according to the Spanish government sub-delegation.

Spanish professionals confirmed that the temporary workers, who will arrive until March, have “years of experience in the sector,” as those selected “have a longer history of working in Spanish fruit fields.”

In December 2022, the organizations responsible for managing the work teams with Morocco completed the process of selecting nearly 5,000 new seasonal workers in different cities such as Marrakech, Kenitra and Fez, to travel to the Huelva area for the first time this season to harvest red fruits and citrus fruits.

A selection that resumed after the 2019 break, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the closure of borders.

Spanish authorities announced that with regard to the units from Ecuador and Honduras, a total of 800 people will arrive this February to work in the agricultural campaign.

Although the much needed source of income provides the workers with income that contributes to improving their livelihoods, Moroccan seasonal workers say their experiences in Spanish strawberry fields are characterized by an ambivalence that is on the one end marked by the opportunity to make money abroad, and yet the realities of poverty, vulnerability, and illiteracy continue to seemingly plague their lives.

These findings are backed by a study carried out by the International Labor Organization and the National Agency for the Promotion of Employment and Skills.

The study entitled “Empowering seasonal workers participating in the circular migration program between Morocco and Spain” relied on 300 questionnaires and 25 interviews with seasonal workers from 17 cities in the regions of Rabat-Salé-Kenitra, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, and Casablanca-Settat.

Of those interviewed, 83% of agricultural workers continue to support their families financially after the end of their residencies in Spain, but they say experiences of poverty, vulnerability, and illiteracy persist.

And yet, they say the agricultural seasonal migration represents a real opportunity to improve their living conditions.
Almost half of the women earn between 1,000 and 1,500 euros per month, and 95 percent of them are satisfied with the remunerations.

The majority of the seasonal workers return to Morocco with 25,000 dirhams in their possession.