Moroccans excluded from foreign seasonal workers in Spain

Moroccans were excluded from the contingent off 32,000 foreign seasonal workers that Spain intends to recruit in 2002, according to statistics published in Madrid.

Only 515 Moroccans were included in the contingent despite the existence of a Moroccan-Spanish agreement on labor.

The Polish, Rumanians, and Colombians form the largest contingents of foreign workers who will be mainly working in farming (85%), industry (6%), construction (3.5%), stock-breeding (3%) and fishing (2.3%).

In the beginning of this year, 6,500 Moroccans who worked in strawberries farms in Huelva (southwestern Spain) were replaced by Polish and Rumanian workers.

Since Spain started to enforce in the early 90s the seasonal workers system, over 50% of positions went to Moroccan nationals, given the geographic proximity and the existence of several agreements on labor and social security between the two Mediterranean countries.