Tomato-growers under threat
MORE than 20,000 Canary Island workers, who rely on the tomato-growing industry for their livelihood, could find their jobs jeopardised.
That’s the belief of Paulino Rivero, the Canaries’ President, who says the latest agricultural treaty between the EU and Morocco could harm the already-weakened sector.
The islands’ growers have already seen exports to the continent fall from 300,000 tons in the Nineties to just 100,000 tons, and Rivero is calling for the treaty to be revised.
Otherwise, he feels, major increases in imports of Moroccan produce to the EU will occur, especially tomatoes! He says the annual 220,000-ton volume will rise by a staggering 65,000 tons.
Rivero puts it down to Morocco’s low prices, thanks to the country’s cheap labour costs, as well as poor wages and minimum social benefits.
He added: “The position of the Canary Islands is clear. We absolutely oppose such an agreement, which threatens the survival of an important, productive sector of the islands.
“We have, supposedly, been granted special status within the EU as a peripheral region, and we want Spain and the EU to do more to protect our fragile economy.”
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