In early May, the garlic will start harvesting in the Castilla La Mancha region of central Spain. The extensive cultivation around the city of Las Pedroñeras is a work carried out each year by about 5,000 foreign seasonal workers.
"A serious problem"
Even in normal cases, it is not easy for growers to get enough people. This year, the problem of obtaining foreign labor is acute. About 120 million tonnes of garlic are waiting to be harvested. But by whom?
"It's a production halt, we need lots of people for a short period of time," says garlic grower Dolores Suarez to the Spanish television company TVE. “The majority of workers are Romanians and Moroccans. Because of the closed borders, we have a serious problem this year. "
300,000 workers are missing
The severe travel restrictions imposed by the virus pandemic in the world mean that the 300,000 foreign seasonal workers, who usually come to Spain during the harvest season, cannot leave their home countries. Spain supplies the whole of Europe with fruits and vegetables, and not only garlic is waiting to be harvested; also asparagus, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes - the list can be made long.
"We are getting worried, the job is usually done by foreign seasonal workers, but they cannot come here because of the current situation," the grower José Maria Monedero told TVE. "Harvesting garlic means a lot of work, and we don't know who will do it."
Paperless people should save the harvest
In order to avoid large parts of the harvesting process, growers try to attract unemployed Spaniards to work in the fields. Many people in the hospitality industry, for example, have lost their jobs in the spring when tourism has almost ceased. But the growers do not believe that the number of domestic unemployed will suffice, because many can neither do nor want to do the physically demanding job that it entails.
Therefore, the Madrid government has opened to allow paperless migrants in the country to participate in the imminent harvesting work, so that the crops can be harvested and the availability of fruits, vegetables and wine is ensured throughout Europe.