Citrus production in Alcanar: the role of immigrant moroccain labour force and the "new immigration"

Abstract

Alcanar, a village in the province of Tarragona, provides the 90 per cent of the citrus fruits Catalan production and also more than 75 per cent of the whole Spanish production of citrus plants. A great volume of labour force is needed to carry out the tasks of harvesting of citrus fruits and working in tree nurseries. Since the population in Alcanar and in the whole region is growing old and has a negative growth, this labour force surplus has to be provided by workers from other villages and foreigners. It is about a decade since the work gangs are mainly composed by Magribian immigrants who have slowly settled down in the area. But the last field work shows the increase of the countries of provenance (since 1999, South American population and people coming from the old Eastern Countries) and the diversification within such countries. Such new phenomenon, named here as the new immigration, has deeply affected the region.