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Fez – The first of 12,200 Moroccan female seasonal workers will arrive in the Spanish province of Huelva on January 12, according to Spanish outlet Europa Press.
The arrival of female seasonal workers from the port of Algeciras to Huelva was originally planned for December but had been delayed due to Morocco’s border closure to curb the spread of the new COVID-19 strain, the Omicron variant.
The Spanish outlet quoted the governmental sub-delegation in Huelva saying that about 15 or 16 ships will arrive with a capacity of between 800 and 1,000 people each, carrying exclusively seasonal workers.
Forecasts estimate that the thousands of Moroccan workers hired for the agricultural sector in Huelva will arrive before mid-March.
As a result, one vessel will arrive in the province every week during the month of January. The authorities will increase the number of ships from February and March, if necessary until the hired quota of seasonal workers is reached.
Spain’s government stressed that the capacity of each vessel will depend on the demand of companies in the sector.
Interfresa, a Spanish Interprofessional Association for the strawberry sector, has indicated that the reception of seasonal workers will be done in the same way as in other years. The organizations will receive them at the port of Algeciras and transfer them to different spots in the province of Huelva.
Moroccan seasonal workers are expected to return to Morocco from mid-June until the end of the seasonal campaign, for which an extraordinary ship will be deployed in May.
Read also: Morocco Thanks Spain for Facilitating Return of Moroccan Seasonal Workers
According to the Spanish Ministry of Integration, Social Security, and Migration, Moroccans make up the largest diaspora group of workers in Spain. By the end of 2020, Spain had registered approximately 262,058 Moroccans.
Moroccan seasonal migrants go to Spain every year to work in the country’s industrial, agricultural, and service industries. This has been made possible by a 2001 deal between Morocco and Spain, which allows seasonal laborers to pick fruit in Spain on temporary visas.
In 2019, around 20,000 Moroccan women traveled to Spain to work as seasonal laborers in strawberry and other red fruit farms. Morocco’s female seasonal workers consist a large portion in the harvest of red fruits in Huelva province.
