Almeria fruit farming slavery

TheFair86 said:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world...ou-don-t-want-to-work-like-a-slave-you-re-out

Interesting view on fruit and veg picking from europe. Suddenly flying people over to do minimum wage doesn't sound so bad.
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I am really pleased that this investigation has taken place.

This company is based close to where I live. So I expect that the greenhouses photographed will be close to me. Perhaps less than 10 minutes drive away.

I always believed that there was exploitation of the migrant workforce here in Spain. By some greenhouse owners. I really have no idea of how prevalent this is.

What I can say is not all of the greenhouse owners are like this. Sadly, I cannot give you any idea of percentages.
 
There's one at Cowpen Bewley that was relocated from Spain which I believe is currently recruiting.

So all of you chaps who agree with the minimum wage as it is can get yourselves down there and lend a hand.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
There's one at Cowpen Bewley that was relocated from Spain which I believe is currently recruiting.

So all of you chaps who agree with the minimum wage as it is can get yourselves down there and lend a hand.
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If I was unemployed I'd not mind really. As per the other video, with performance related pay £800 a week is achievable with some graft.
 
There was a channel 4 documentary located in the same region a year or two back. Horrendous conditions and abuse suffered by migrant workers. Unbelievable really in an EU country
 
Parnaby I'm not sure if it's worse in certain regions. I spend a bit of time in Catalonia and that always seems pretty civiised. But I don't suppose I see below the surface of what's going on
 
parnabyscrosses said:
Spain is unbelievable in general, it's so far behind the UK in every way, at times it feels lawless.
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I am not spoiling for a fight on this in any way. I have lived in Spain for more than 15 years now. In what way do you mean lawless? Are you talking about employment law or other aspects of the law? I am interested in your views.

I also want to point out that I do not condone what these greenhouse owners have done in any way.
 
wilkos_perm said:
Parnaby I'm not sure if it's worse in certain regions. I spend a bit of time in Catalonia and that always seems pretty civiised. But I don't suppose I see below the surface of what's going on
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I've lived in Barcelona for the past 7 years, the most recent example of this was the troubles last October. It was a warzone and unsafe to go out. The city has descended into violence like that on about 3 occasions since I've lived here. At it's best it's a nice place to live but politics can boil over at any time and there's a lot of young/stupid Catalans who absolutely love rioting and fighting the police and feel like they're fighting for Catalonia. The cash machine near me still hasn't been replaced after all the banks were smashed up in October.
 
spanishman said:
I am not spoiling for a fight on this in any way. I have lived in Spain for more than 15 years now. In what way do you mean lawless? Are you talking about employment law or other aspects of the law? I am interested in your views.

I also want to point out that I do not condone what these greenhouse owners have done in any way.
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I'm not knowledgable at all on the greenhouse situations or particular employment laws, so I guess other aspects of the law. In regard to employment the only input I have is that I know many people who pay no taxes, work cash in hand and earn quite a bit. That just seems to be almost the norm here but there's no way you could get away with it on such a grand scale in the UK.
 
parnabyscrosses said:
I'm not knowledgable at all on the greenhouse situations or particular employment laws, so I guess other aspects of the law. In regard to employment the only input I have is that I know many people who pay no taxes, work cash in hand and earn quite a bit. That just seems to be almost the norm here but there's no way you could get away with it on such a grand scale in the UK.
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That has not been my experience here. Although I guess I have not been involved much with people running local greenhouses.

I have one friend who does run 2 greenhouses here. He is remarkably thorough and honest in his dealings with all aspects of his business. I have no idea whether this is reasonably standard or out of the ordinary.

My experience is that there seems to be a lot of law enforcement here. As well as a lot of bureaucracy here. That is why I felt the lawless statement seemed a little strange to me.
 
spanishman said:
That has not been my experience here. Although I guess I have not been involved much with people running local greenhouses.

I have one friend who does run 2 greenhouses here. He is remarkably thorough and honest in his dealings with all aspects of his business. I have no idea whether this is reasonably standard or out of the ordinary.

My experience is that there seems to be a lot of law enforcement here. As well as a lot of bureaucracy here. That is why I felt the lawless statement seemed a little strange to me.
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Like I said I’m talking more about law in general rather than the greenhouses which I know nothing about. We also live in vastly different places, you in the countryside, me in the city. The biggest reason I use the word lawless is that I’ve seen on a number of occasions the Guardia Civil attack innocent and defenseless civilians on the streets, physical beatings with batons and also firing rubber bullets into crowds with children.
 
parnabyscrosses said:
Like I said I’m talking more about law in general rather than the greenhouses which I know nothing about. We also live in vastly different places, you in the countryside, me in the city. The biggest reason I use the word lawless is that I’ve seen on a number of occasions the Guardia Civil attack innocent and defenseless civilians on the streets, physical beatings with batons and also firing rubber bullets into crowds with children.
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Wow. That really is very different to here.
 
spanishman said:
Wow. That really is very different to here.
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I can imagine, when I was younger I guess I found it quite exciting but last October i was throughly sick of it and didn't want to be in the city. I've often considered a move south for a slower pace of life and I think I will eventually end up there but despite its shortcomings Barcelona is where I feel at home and I feel a strong attachment to it.
 
I was in Barcelona for the first time for a very short period last summer. We had around 1/2 to 3/4 of a day spare. After having flown up there for a gig around an hour and some north of you on the coast (Nile Rodgers at Cap Roig Festival).

Was looking round the city and it started pouring down. So we went back to the hotel by the airport ready to fly back down south the next morning. So we did not see much.
 
Spanishman I haven't been to Cap Roig festival but I have been in those gardens when the stage was being erected. Must be a great atmosphere with those views. One of my favourite coastal areas in Europe
 
Spanishman I worked in Spain for nearly 15years. We don't have the Notary over here, as you know he gets involved in everything.

The Tile industry around Castellon is like the wild west, we pulled out after 2 years.

And f me but Manana can last days.
 
wilkos_perm said:
Spanishman I haven't been to Cap Roig festival but I have been in those gardens when the stage was being erected. Must be a great atmosphere with those views. One of my favourite coastal areas in Europe
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It was the best event I have been to in my life. Stunning venue. A bit of food and drink in the courtyard beforehand. Then an open air stage with around 2000 seats. So nobody was more than around 50 seats back. We were on our feet dancing all night. With views of the gardens and the sea. We were planning to go again this year. However I doubt it will happen.
 
Sounds great. We have access to an apartment in Calella de Palafrugell but haven't tried to get to the festival as we have small kids, but maybe in a few years. ,
 
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