Induced circularity for selective workers. The case of seasonal labor mobility schemes in the Spanish agriculture

Abstract

At the end of the 1990s Spain began to design programs directed at recruiting seasonal workers for the agriculture sector. During the past decade, coinciding with a period of intense economic growth, these programs were applied in certain Spanish provinces with the objective of promoting forms of temporary and circular migration. The implementation of these programs, in which a broad number of public and private actors participated, was an exception to the traditionally reactive Spanish policy on labor immigration. In addition, these programs gave seasonal migrant workers an anomalous legal status by blocking them from obtaining permanent residence permits and limiting their right to settle in Spain. This article analyzes the design and implementation of these programs in Spain, the involvement of various actors, and the way they were managed in two provinces where they had the greatest volume and continuity, Huelva, in region of Andalusia and Lleida in Catalonia.KEYWORDS: Seasonal migrant workers programs; induced circular migration; labor migration; agriculture; Spain. RESUMEN:A finales de los años noventa España comenzó a diseñar programas dirigidos al reclutamiento de trabajadores estacionales para el sector agrícola. En la década pasada, y coincidiendo con un período de intenso crecimiento económico, estos programas fueron aplicados en determinadas provincias españolas con el objetivo de promover formas de migración temporal y circular. La implantación de estos programas, en los que participan un amplio número de actores públicos y privados, supuso una excepcionalidad en la tradicionalmente reactiva política española de inmigración laboral. Estos programas dotaron, adicionalmente, de un estatuto legal anómalo a este tipo de trabajadores a través de la contención del acceso a permisos permanentes y la limitación del establecimiento. En este artículo se analiza el diseño y la implantación de este tipo de programas en el caso español, la implicación de diversos actores, así como su gestión concreta en el caso de las dos provincias donde estos programas han tenido mayor volumen y continuidad, Huelva en la región de Andalucía y Lérida, en Cataluña.PALABRAS CLAVE: Programas de importación de trabajadores migrantes estacionales; circularidad migratoria inducida; inmigración laboral; agricultura; España.

On the Social Sustainability of Industrial Agriculture Dependent on Migrant Workers. Romanian Workers in Spain’s Seasonal Agriculture

“…The bilateral agreement with Romania was just part of a larger process whose goal was to supply workers for highly seasonal agricultural activities. Started at the end of the 1990s, this process led to the implementation of a series of small, regional TMPs recruiting workers in their origin countries [16]. Bilateral agreements were the main instruments used to recruit workers and different European, African, and Latin American countries were targeted by the Spanish government.…”

On the Social Sustainability of Industrial Agriculture Dependent on Migrant Workers. Romanian Workers in Spain’s Seasonal Agriculture

“…The bilateral agreement with Romania was just part of a larger process whose goal was to supply workers for highly seasonal agricultural activities. Started at the end of the 90s, this process led to the implementation of a series of small, regional TMPs recruiting workers in their origin countries [16]. Bilateral agreements were the main instruments used to recruit workers and different European, African and Latin American countries were targeted by the Spanish government.…”

“…Agriculture was a sector with a high demand for workers and offered them a way to access to a legal status and increase their income. During the economic boom years, job opportunities in other sectors, such as construction and hospitality, let them improve their professional and social conditions and leave a sector that is not so attractive in terms of salaries, status and working conditions [16]. But the economic crisis forced them to return to the sector.…”

La creciente dependencia de mano de obra migrante para tareas agrícolas en el centro global. Una perspectiva comparada

“…Por lo general, quienes han analizado estos contextos, han explicado la progresiva sustitución de trabajadores nacionales por migrantes en función de factores productivos tales como los procesos de industrialización del sector agrícola experimentados en determinados enclaves (Molinero-Gerbeau y Avallone, 2018) que requirieron emplear grandes cantidades de trabajadores. Entre los factores sociológicos también argüidos, se han tendido a destacar los efectos que el aumento del bienestar económico ha tenido en las poblaciones rurales del centro como, por ejemplo, hacer del trabajo agrícola un empleo no atractivo debido a su mínima remuneración, su bajo prestigio social y sus extenuantes dinámicas laborales (López-Sala, 2016).…”