Spain to Recruit Moroccan Truck Drivers Amid European Labor Shortage

According to figures from the European Road Hauliers Association published in 2021, Europe needed around 400,000 truck drivers. Spain, which is an integral part of the old continent, is facing a shortage of truck drivers. To address this shortage, the Iberian peninsula "will train and employ a group of Moroccan truck drivers, in order to channel migration towards the European transport sector affected by a severe labor shortage," said a Spanish government source during the summit in Rabat. This will be through a pilot program for which the number of truck drivers has not yet been determined. It is one of the first to apply the new Spanish migration regulations that allow more flexible hiring of foreigners in their country of origin to fill technical positions or allow them to obtain visas.

Spain thus intends to regularize migration by following in the footsteps of Germany. According to the same source, the selected drivers (men and women), who can be truck or bus drivers, will have already started their training in Morocco and will complete it in Spain, obtaining a contract of at least one year.

These two countries have maintained, for years, a "circular migration" program, which facilitates the arrival of Moroccan seasonal workers in the fields in Spain. Once the season is over, they return to Morocco.