Flood of farm job applications from unemployed hospitality sector workers in Spain’s Mallorca

PICKERS NEEDED: Mallorca’s agricultural sector is having to look for labour locally due to the health crisis lockdown CREDIT: Unio de Pagesos de Mallorca Facebook @PagesosMallorca

THE Mallorca farmers’ union has received a flood of applications for temporary work from hospitality sector workers left jobless by the coronavirus crisis lockdown, according to Spanish press.
When the Unio de Pagesos farmers’ union advertised for 180 seasonal pickers at the beginning of the year only about 20 people showed an interest, but this week’s ad for work like preparing the land, planting, picking and sorting produce reportedly attracted more than 600 applications in just one day.
While the majority were sent in by people who usually work in hospitality, there were also a good number from construction sector workers, the reports said.
“This avalanche of CVs in 24 hours shows that the situation in Mallorca is very difficult”, the union secretary general Sebastia Ordines told Spanish press.
In normal times Mallorca’s temporary farm workers come from South America, particularly Colombians, but the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the island’s agricultural organisation to try and find labour locally.
Commenting this week on the royal decree which allows the unemployed to replace temporary workers, Balearic Island government regional Agricultural minister Mae de la Concha described it as “very necessary to be able to cover the season and a good option for people on the dole.”

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Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

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