The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has defended the extraordinary regularization of migrants in an irregular administrative situation considering that Spain needs workers for sectors such as agriculture. He did so this Thursday during a visit to Almería after holding an event with socialist militants and sympathizers, ensuring that this measure responds to both a labor need and a “moral and ethical” issue.
Furthermore, he has appeared calm regarding the possible decision of the Supreme Court on this regularization and has stated that the Government has acted “in a rigorously legal manner” and following the recommendations of the Council of State. “I think there will be no problem in this regard,” he said in statements to NewsWork.
The field needs labor
Planas has insisted that keeping people in an irregular situation does not make sense in a context in which the agricultural sector needs labor. “We cannot have people in an irregular administrative situation; it has an economic sense, because we need people in agriculture, and a moral and ethical sense,” he stated.
“This regularization is not designed for the countryside, but for those who are in an irregular situation and have a job offer.”
However, it has recognized that agriculture is one of the sectors that can benefit the most from this measure due to the lack of workers in different agricultural campaignsmentioning the need for labor both in the greenhouses of Almería and in the Andalusian olive grove or in the red fruit campaign of Huelva.
“The need to work together is combined with our need to have people willing to participate in the tasks,” Planas explained, insisting that these people must be treated “within the law and with respect.”
In this context, the minister has also made reference to the Spanish emigration of the 60s and 70s to defend the labor incorporation of migrants in Spain. “We must look back at the Spaniards who went to Germany or Switzerland to make an honest living,” he recalled, adding that those who respect “the rules of our society” have “a lot to do and work with us,” he concluded.