Spanish company owner threatens Moroccan workers after exploitation complaints

A strawberry farm owner in Huelva, Spain, is facing accusations of threatening and exploiting Moroccan day laborers after a leaked WhatsApp audio revealed his intimidation tactics. The recording exposes a potential widespread issue within the region’s strawberry industry. 

The audio, obtained by journalist Perico Echevarría of La Mar de Onuba magazine, captures the owner confronting his workers. 

The confrontation reportedly stemmed from the workers seeking help from independent associations due to the farm’s failure to fulfill the terms of their contracts.  

“Are you saying there are problems on the farm? Are you here or are you all in Morocco, get out!” the owner yells in the audio, according to Echevarría. 

This incident brought to the forefront a larger problem within Huelva’s strawberry industry. Echevarría claims these companies are systematically violating the Gecco Order (ISM/1417/2023), a regulation guaranteeing migrant workers a minimum 39-hour workweek with corresponding pay, including overtime. 

“That there are no strawberries to pick is not the workers’ problem,” Echevarría states. He further alleges the owner not only withholds pay for unworked hours stipulated in the contract but also illegally charges the workers for their accommodation.  

Echevarría estimates this amounts to over €100 million in annual fraud by these berry-producing companies.  

The situation is further complicated by a lack of transparency. Ana Pinto, co-founder of Jornaleras de Huelva en Lucha (Women Day Laborers in Struggle), stressed the absence of contracts in the workers’ native languages and the failure to disclose net income details. 

Additionally, Pinto claims workers are paid €5 less per overtime hour than they are legally entitled to. 

Pinto further alleges these violations extend beyond pay.  She reports receiving complaints of companies not adhering to Spain’s minimum wage (SMI) and manipulating payrolls to disguise excessive overtime hours.  

More disturbingly, Pinto reveals instances of sexual assault against female workers by their superiors. 

The precarious situation extends to basic healthcare. Both Echevarría and Pinto denounce the deplorable sanitary conditions faced by the workers. 

Workers’ health cards are reportedly not processed until they fall ill, effectively barring them from medical attention without their employer’s accompaniment. 

Echevarría recounts the story of Laila (not her real name), a Moroccan worker who arrived with a valid contract.  Upon the owner noticing her amputated fingers, a consequence of diabetes, she was immediately dismissed and told to “go to Morocco.”