The reality of Spain’s agricultural sector

From the onions and tomatoes in our pasta sauce to the peppers and cucumbers in our salads and strawberries and melons in our smoothies, there’s a good chance they have come from Spain and passed through the hands of migrant workers on their journey to our supermarket shelves.

Spain grows nearly a quarter of all fresh vegetables produced in the EU, and two fifths of the land in Europe that’s dedicated to fruit growing is in Spain.

Maintaining the sector is a migrant workforce of around 200,000 people. We’ve been publishing about the exploitation of workers in this sector since 2019. Since then, UK supermarkets have acknowledged that they source heavily from the region and can’t just ignore problems any more.

In April 2025 Ethical Consumer staff travelled to the region and met workers in person. Here are some reflections.

Note: We have applied filters to photographs of workers to protect their identity, and all names have been changed.

Scorching temperatures

The sun beats down on the greenhouses, raising the temperatures inside. 

In summer it reaches over 40°C in central Almería. We can’t imagine how hot it must be inside the greenhouses. 

Even in April we could feel heat flooding out as we lifted the plastic to take photos inside the greenhouse.

Miles of plastic greenhouses that look like snow

In parts, Almería is so covered in white plastic greenhouses that it looks like it’s under a layer of snow.

Since the 1970s, greenhouses have spread across southern Spain. Nowadays, the area of Almeria with the most greenhouses is known as the ‘plastic sea’. 

The greenhouses are so vast that they're visible from space.

Conditions fit for vegetables, not humans 

A worker told us that one day her supervisor shut the door of the greenhouse to trap the hot air in while she was working alone. “I thought I might faint and no one would be around to help”. 

Workers in Almeria have reported working from sunrise to sunset in extreme heat, with just a 30 minute break.

Toxic chemicals 

Around the greenhouses, industrial bins are filled with empty containers of fertilisers, pesticides, and highly corrosive chemicals such as nitric acid. Workers have been made to spray chemicals without gloves or masks. Some have died from chemical exposure. 

Alexandra from Romania said it doesn’t matter if you feel unwell. “We stop to rest for one moment and the supervisor shouts, ‘Are you here to work or are you here to relax?’”

Inadequate living conditions 

Workers build shacks from pallets, boards, and old plastic greenhouse sheeting. 

Surrounded by greenhouses for miles, these clusters of makeshift homes are without sanitation or electricity. We couldn’t believe this was Spain.

Racism and the risks of speaking out 

A hierarchy of racial discrimination has been reported in the sector, with workers claiming people from West Africa are given physically tougher jobs than Moroccans, Moroccans tougher jobs than Romanians, and so on.

We met over 100 workers during the week, but could count those from West or Sub-Saharan Africa on one hand. The union says they are too afraid to become involved because of the possible repercussions. Those without documentation could be reported to authorities.

Water points you funded

In 2020, Ethical Consumer readers fundraised for two water points to be installed at Atochares. A union member told us, “Workers of all nationalities worked together to help lay the piping. It was a beautiful day.” 

In November 2024, the water points were cut off by the local water company and council (who deny doing so), leaving workers once again without water. 

We campaigned alongside Anti Slavery International to try to get the water back. Supermarkets even called on the Spanish local government to restore water after we called on them to do this, but access still hasn't been restored.

The cruelty of local government

The union told us that the local council ignores remote settlements but is trying to evict those located near roads tourists might travel on. The ground surrounding Atochares, a settlement where 500 people including children live, had been ploughed into furrows by the council to prevent the settlement expanding. 

One day soon the council will likely evict residents completely.

La Lucha: The struggle

While it’s too risky for many workers to speak out, some find ways to do so. 

We met workers who had unionised their workplaces for the first time; led strikes and protests against abusive farms; travelled to Germany to tell supermarkets about the issue; and become spokespeople for migrant workers in the sector.

Aamir, a spokesperson from Morocco, said “I have children and we need to do this for them, so that they have a better life. We want money, yes, but more than anything we want respect. It’s a slow path, and it’s not easy, but we’ll do it.”

Ongoing collaboration between Ethical Consumer and Spanish union

The union SAT Almería has been integral to our campaigning on this issue – they want to mobilise the power of consumers to hold supermarkets to account. The union’s office was decorated with Che Guevara and Zapatista memorabilia, the back wall stacked high with files labelled with at least 100 farm names – all the companies they’ve taken to court on behalf of workers.