3 Feb, 2023 @ 11:07
1 min read

Moroccans given path to formal employment in Spain through lorry driver visa amid labour shortage

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View of semi truck traffic stopped on a road heading away from Baghdad, Iraq (IRQ), during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Spain has announced plans to train and employ truck drivers from Morocco in an effort to ease labour shortages. 

The move follows the recent release of figures by the European Road Hauliers Association, which revealed that Europe is in need of around 400,000 truck drivers.

The pilot program, which is one of the first to apply Spain’s new migration regulations, will allow for the flexible hiring of foreigners in their home countries to fill technical vacancies or provide them with visas to study. 

The chosen drivers will undergo training in Morocco and complete it in Spain, receiving a work contract for at least one year.

The Spanish government aims to regularise migration and alleviate the problem of irregular migration, which has been a major area of friction with Morocco. 

The move is seen as an effort to improve the tense relationship between the two neighbouring countries, which have maintained a program of circular migration for years, allowing thousands of Moroccan workers to come to work in Spanish agriculture.

Despite Spain’s high unemployment rate of 12.87%, the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged more workers to enter the formal economy, leading to a record-high formal employment and an increase in Spain’s GDP, which is set to recover to pre-pandemic levels this year.

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Walter Finch

Walter Finch, who comes from a background in video and photography, is keen on reporting on and investigating organised crime, corruption and abuse of power. He is fascinated by the nexus between politics, business and law-breaking, as well as other wider trends that affect society.
Born in London but having lived in six countries, he is well-travelled and worldly. He studied Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and earned his diploma in journalism from London's renowned News Associates during the Covid era.
He got his first break in the business working on the Foreign News desk of the Daily Mail's online arm, where he also helped out on the video desk.
He then decided to escape the confines of London and returned to Spain in 2022, having previously lived in Barcelona for many years.
He took up up a reporter role with the Olive Press Newspaper and today he is based in La Linea de la Concepcion at the heart of a global chokepoint and crucial maritime hub, where he edits the Olive Press Gibraltar edition.
He is also the deputy news editor across all editions of the newspaper.

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