The European Commission has announced the inspection of citrus plantations in the Guadalquivir valley, covering more than 30,000 hectares in 25 municipalities of Cordoba and Seville, in order to prevent labour abuse. The Mayor of Palma del Río, the socialist José Antonio Ruiz Almenara, met Thursday with the Director General for Agriculture of the European Commission, Joost Korte, who requested information on the proliferation of groups of labourers who are forced to work for ten hours a day, harvesting and loading over 1,100 kilos of fruit per day and receiving only 2.5 Euro per hour.
The mayor praised the initiative from the EC, which entails the opening of a “hotline for dialogue with the EU to analyse the situation and propose solutions.”
The current situation, which has turned the region into a social powder keg, was also discussed last Thursday in the Parliament of Andalusia after the spokesperson of Podemos (left wing party), Teresa Rodríguez, addressed the issue during the control session of the president of Andalusia, Susana Díaz.
The head of the regional Government stated that everything possible has been done to prevent the proliferation of these abuses, blaming “ruthless entrepreneurs” for them. In this sense, she reported to have asked the Government Delegation to enforce the necessary measures to put an end to the abuse. The president suggested comparing the harvests with the wages paid in order to detect fraud.
The Government Delegation is planning 2,000 inspection visits as part of a specific plan for the sector, but has also acknowledged that the dispersion of the farms hinders the work of the Civil Guard. To this we must add the fact that the workers themselves do not report their situation because they prefer to work for 2.5 Euro than being unemployed, or because this later allows them access to the agricultural subsidy system.
Source: Fresh Plaza