• Economy The Andalusian hotel industry is already looking for waiters in Morocco

From a few years to now, the lack of workers in the hospitality sector, especially qualified personnel, has become one of the main problems facing the world of catering every season, reaching its peak during the summer campaign and holidays.

With the gaze of the Andalusian hoteliers set on the next Holy Week and the beginning of the high season for tourism in this autonomous community, the debate on what are the causes that have caused this situation and what would be the best way to solve it has been put back on the table when this Tuesday from the hospitality employer of Cádiz (Horeca) its president, Antonio de María, has proposed to the central government to organize the hiring of Moroccans and hospitality students from the neighboring country to fill the shortage of workers.

The reactions to the request that the vacancies not occupied by Spaniards be filled by foreign labor have not been long in coming. While the unions have once again charged the ink against the hoteliers for not making decent job offers; The employers have rejected that the lack of professionals is precisely due to painful working conditions.

The association of hoteliers in Malaga (MAHOS), in conversation with EL MUNDO, has also insisted that the shortage of personnel in this industry "in no case is due to working conditions that are breached by the hotelier although in this, as in all professions, there are employers who do not comply, although they are the least. " Nor would salaries be a problem for Mahos since the payrolls, set by agreement, "are more than decent."

For his part, Antonio de María has insisted that "if a situation of exploitation is known, it is reported to the Labor Inspectorate". In statements to EFE, De María does not believe that the waiters do not report for fear of losing their jobs. In his opinion, this problem is due, on the one hand, to the decline in the young Spanish population and that "many young people prefer to spend a summer having fun, rather than working". In addition, he doubts the figures that speak of numerous waiters without work since, in his opinion, "many people sign up for unemployment because if not, they do not receive aid and say that their job is a waiter as they could say that bricklayer".

The City Council of Cádiz (governed by Adelante Cádiz) and Vox have also joined the controversy. The consistory of the capital of this Andalusian province has asked restaurateurs that, instead of looking for waiters in Morocco, bet on "training, professionalization and good working conditions" for Spaniards. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Vox in the Andalusian Parliament, Manuel Gavira, has expressed his disagreement with the president of Horeca, stating that "it is not acceptable" that Moroccan citizens have to be brought to work in the Andalusian province with the highest level of unemployment when, in addition, Andalusia continues to have "an unacceptable number" unemployed.

For their part, young Moroccan immigrants have enthusiastically applauded the proposal that the group, together with students of Hospitality from Morocco, can receive contracts to alleviate the lack of hospitality staff in Cádiz during the summer months. "We value this proposal very positively," Juan Molina, secretary of the Association of Solidarity Families for Development (AFASODE), one of the Andalusian entities that tries to support these young people, some of those who arrived in Spain as unaccompanied minors and who, after being protected by public administrations, when they turn 18 leave this area of protection and are on the street "in a situation of helplessness."

In Cádiz, says Molina, there are more than 150 young people between 18 and 25 years old who survive thanks to the support of associations such as AFASODE and who have "a high level of motivation" to respond successfully to a job opportunity because they have "a great incentive, fulfill the obsession for which they came to Spain, help their families."

Molina also highlights the "success" of a precedent to the initiative that is now being studied by the employers of Hospitality of Cádiz. It refers to the three years that this group has come to work in the collection of strawberries from Huelva." The first year, in the pandemic, there were 49 young people. The following year, 100 and last 190, because companies have seen that they are good workers, "he said.

Many of these young people have received training in hospitality through different initiatives and can access training contracts, which have a bonus of 100% of the Social Security contribution and can last from six months, "from Easter to September." They are boys and girls with high performance and a lot of commitment to the company "and who also have the support of this association, or other similar ones, to help with any problem or in obtaining the documentation or qualification they need.

Of its possibilities, the case of Oualid gives an idea, a Moroccan boy who arrived in a boat to Cádiz as a minor and who, after spending four years in a juvenile center, was left on the street when he turned 18. He resorted to the help of AFASODE and a year ago he got a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Conil de la Frontera, whose owner has already appointed him head chef for the efficiency he has shown.

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  • Cadiz
  • Social security
  • Huelva
  • Vox
  • Morocco
  • Malaga
  • THE WORLD
  • Secondary education