Spain to Recruit 3,000 Moroccan Workers for Strawberry Harvest

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration will contact the Moroccan Ministry of Employment and ANAPEC to request the sending of 3,000 new Moroccan seasonal workers for the next harvest campaign. The announcement was made on Thursday during the meeting organized by the Provincial Commission responsible for monitoring and socio-professional integration of seasonal workers to take stock of the 2021/22 campaign and define new strategies for the next campaign, according to Europa Press.

Chaired by the sub-delegate of the government, Manuela Parralo, this meeting brought together the actors involved in the campaign, including representatives of the various producer associations (ASAJA, Freshuelva, UPA, Federation of Andalusian Cooperatives, Association of Citrus Producers - ACPH) and the UGT and CCOO unions. The aim was to assess the need for agricultural labor and provide a sustainable response.

According to a study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Gecco program has become an "indispensable" instrument for addressing the challenges related to labor mobility in the agricultural sector, in a "safe, orderly and regular" manner. "It is essential that we together achieve a balance that allows the development of a sector that is essential for job creation and is one of the main pillars of the economy of the province of Huelva," said Parralo.

The program "will generate more than 100,000 seasonal jobs for the agricultural campaign," adds the sub-delegate. The call will soon be launched in all autonomous communities and in the European Union, she said, ensuring that priority will also be given to local labor. 11,098 Moroccan seasonal workers participated in the previous campaign in Huelva, where they worked for an average of four months at a rate of 22 days per month.