The first contingent of workers from Ecuador for Huelva's strawberry and berry harvesting campaign has already started working in the province's countryside. The group is made up of 44 men and women belonging to the 74-people contingent managed by Cooperatives Agro-alimentary de Huelva and they will help collect and adapt the strawberry farms associated with federated cooperatives in the province. The second group will arrive in mid-February.
In total, 500 seasonal workers of Ecuadorian and Honduran origin will arrive in the province of Huelva this campaign, in accordance with the quota approved by the General Directorate of Migration of the Government of Spain, as part of a pilot recruitment project proposed by Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Andalucia.
The contingent is made up of men and women of rural origin that have previous experience in agricultural work. A technician from the federation traveled to Ecuador at the end of October 2021 to select the personnel. He went to the cities of Rio Bamba, Azogue, and Quito, where he conducted around 500 interviews. All the seasonal workers that were hired must arrive in Spain completely vaccinated against COVID-19 with vaccines that are recognized by the European Union.
In parallel, and as in previous campaigns, Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de Huelva continues to manage the hiring of workers of Moroccan origin at the source. More than 1,600 applications for temporary workers from Morocco have been processed and they will join the farms associated with Huelva cooperatives during the first weeks of January.
The General Directorate of Migration of the Government of Spain authorized the hiring of workers from Ecuador, Honduras, and Morocco for the strawberry and berry campaign after the Andalusian Employment Service was unable to fill in more than 11,000 jobs it offered. They only received some 200 applications.
Source: diariodehuelva.es