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ARCHIVED - Lack of temporary workers causes concern for farmers as the stone fruit season begins
The Covid-19 travel restrictions have caused a shortfall in the number of migratory agricultural workers
During the current state of emergency in Spain due to the Covid-19 pandemic the ability of the agriculture sector to continue functioning has been one of the priorities, but in recent weeks concern has begun to grow over the lack of farmhands available for the spring crop harvesting and picking season which is about to begin.
The crops concerned include water melons, peaches and cherries, and at the moment some farmers are facing severe difficulties in recruiting the workforce necessary to ensure that produce makes its way from the fields and orchards to supermarkets and markets all over Spain and the rest of Europe. In normal circumstances many of those employed in harvesting are migratory workers from northern Africa and Eastern Europe, but in the present situation they have not been able or willing to make their way to Spain due to travel restrictions and the closure of the country’s borders.
In Huelva, for example, there are normally around 16,000 temporary workers from Morocco ready to begin picking strawberries and other fruit at this time of year, but only 8,000 had arrived before Morocco closed its borders on 13th March: at the same time, the demand for fruit and vegetables in Spain has risen by between 20 and 40 per cent since the lockdown began, and some in the sector have been warning that native Spaniards may have to be recruited.
The agricultural sector is hard, physical labour, with notoriusly low pay and uncomfortable conditions, hence the lack of takers for these jobs and the fact that they are normally only of interest to migrant workers.
This is not a problem unique to Spain as many British farmers for example, have been raising the same question of how they will manage to bring in their own harvest as the number of migrant labourers seeking work in the UK has fallen so noticeably in the last few months.
In response to this problem, on Tuesday the Spanish government is expected to follow the lead set by France and to make it easier for agricultural businesses to take on both the long-term unemployed and migrants on a temporary basis, a move which is designed to ensure that pitted fruit crops in the north and other stone fruits in the south of Spain do not go to waste. Across the whole country it is calculated that between 100,000 and 150,000 temporary farmhands are “missing” this year, according to Luis Planas, the Minister for Agriculture, and it is essential that the gap in the workforce be plugged.
Specifically, the government is expected to make it easier to employ those who are registered as being out of work (as long as they are not claiming the special coronavirus benefit) and to prolong all temporary contracts in the sector which expire between the declaration of the state of emergency on 14th March and 30th June of this year, including those extended to temporary immigrants.
Elsewhere in Europe the lack of agricultural workers at present is quantified at around 270,000 in Germany and 200,000 in both Italy and France, but at a more local level in Murcia the race is on to find around 12,000 employees before 20th April, when the spring fruit picking season begins. At the same time another spike in the demand for fresh vegetables is expected, and the export federation Proexport reports that the problems in the workforce have been exacerbated by high levels of absenteeism since the lockdown began as employees struggle to travel to work and to make family life compatible with the need to work.
Extra protection for staff in processing and packaging plants has been installed – for example separating employees from each other by means of screens – but the fear factor is also an important one, and although the number of absentees has now fallen it is still an important consideration.
In addition, Ramadan begins this year on 23rd April and with many of the north Africans working in agriculture in Murcia belonging to the Muslim faith further disruption can be expected, but despite all of these setbacks representatives of the sector are confident that agriculture will continue to be one sector of the regional economy which continues to be active throughout the current emergency.
Remember: LOCKDOWN MEANS LOCKDOWN. STAY AT HOME. STAY SAFE AND DO YOUR BIT TO REDUCE THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS.
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Around Mazarrón news, events and local info: Click to join
Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Águilas, Lorca, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, Camposol, Alhama de Murcia. Click to join (all within a half hour drive of each other)
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What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212) if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
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