Perhaps you have roughly guessed what is shown in this aerial photo? Not? It's a bunch, a bunch of greenhouses. They say that this huge cluster of greenhouses can even be seen from space.
The greenhouses cover an area of over 259 square kilometers. These greenhouses grow millions of tons of fruits and vegetables and deliver them to other parts of the world.
Who can guess what country this is located in? The answer is under the cut well, and more pictures and a description of this place.
Since 1980, a small coastal plain 30 km southwest of the Spanish city of Almeria has become the largest concentration of greenhouses in the world, covering almost 26,000 hectares. Several thousand tons of greenhouse vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini are grown here every year. More than half of the total fresh fruits and vegetables on the European market are grown in greenhouses here, generating an annual income of $ 1.5 billion for the Almeria economy.
35 years ago, this region in southeastern Spain was known only for its dry and harsh climate. Everything here looked like a desert, and the annual rainfall was only 200 mm of rain. Many European westerns were even filmed here, because the scenery fit.
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However, imported salt and complete hydroponic systems that have fed the plants with chemical fertilizers for the past 35 years have made the site a veritable agricultural paradise. Hothouse, of course.
These greenhouses are owned by a huge number of small entrepreneurs and large companies. The temperature inside can reach over 45 degrees Celsius. For many Spanish workers, it is too difficult to work here due to the high temperatures, so the greenhouses are mainly occupied by legal and illegal immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe.
It is believed that 100,000 immigrants work in these greenhouses, and many believe that it is the lack of labor rights of the workers here that helps the place to flourish. Many farms do not have toilets, and women often work as prostitutes.
Some workers also sign labor contracts that require them to give some of the money to their superiors. They pay here 33-36 euros per day.
The sea of white-roofed greenhouses in Almeria is so vast that researchers at the University of Almeria have found that by reflecting sunlight back into the atmosphere, these greenhouses act as a kind of fan for the entire province.
While temperatures in the rest of Spain are rising above common levels, local temperatures have dropped by an average of 0.3 degrees Celsius every 10 years since 1983.
The greenhouses have become so successful and profitable that they have swallowed up the entire Dalias plain and are already approaching the valleys of the neighboring Alpujarra hills, one of the most beautiful and unspoiled places in Spain. Several small towns have already been completely swallowed up by growing greenhouses.
Plastics manufacturers and recycling companies have also settled in the region. After all, here garbage and waste lie everywhere, blocking even river channels.
At one time, the death of a sperm whale, which washed up on the coast of Spain, was attributed to the detrimental effect of the greenhouses of Almeria on nature, because the sperm whale swallowed 17 kg of plastic waste thrown into the sea. Among the trash were also empty plastic containers with the remains of toxic waste. On the coast of El Pozuelo, the debris reaches the level of the ankles.
And now the Christian Als report from the greenhouses themselves:
Thousands of illegal immigrants work in plastic greenhouses with temperatures below 50 degrees Celsius. And while it was low wages, hazardous work and hellish working conditions that have enriched this region of Spain so quickly, and even though only desperate workers can survive these conditions, they are still treated like social outcasts.
Lettuce, various herbs, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm-loving plants are grown in such greenhouses.
Many illegal immigrants make quite dangerous travels to get to Europe. But instead of a country with rivers of milk and honeydew, they end up in hellish working conditions in similar greenhouses in the Andalusian region of Spain. And often you have to spend days lying in bed for lack of work on the farms.
In the lens of a satellite flying past, the province of Almeria is one of the most recognizable places on the planet. The roofs of tens of thousands of adjacent greenhouses form a mirrored veil that reflects sunlight. El Ejido, with a population of 75,000 and no tourist attractions, is located right in the heart of one of the world's largest greenhouse growing regions.
Working in such a greenhouse is unbearably hot and full of chemicals. Few immigrants, mostly from Africa, risk their lives crossing the straits between the Spanish and Moroccan coasts.
According to the local non-governmental organization SOC from Almeria, El Ejido has an appallingly low poverty rate. 7-8 immigrants can live in one house, but there is a strong relationship between them, built on solidarity. They are often forced to collect excess or rotten vegetables in greenhouses. In the photo: a hut built by workers.
There are severe fines for hiring illegal immigrants. But African workers know that sooner or later a car will drive up to them and they will sit in the back. In the photo: even if Bamo does not get a job today, he will come here tomorrow, as he has been doing for eight months.
Almeria is one of the world's largest greenhouse vegetable producing regions. Every year 1.5 million tons are produced here.
The social situation with El Ejido is quite tense, because there are many African workers in the town who are trying - often in vain - to find at least some work for at least a few hours. Africans continue to land on the beaches of Andalusia, and many newcomers are looking for their first jobs in El Ejido greenhouses.
Every morning, Bamo and other workers gather at a certain place near their poor huts, where Spanish farmers come to select workers for the day. They are paid 25 euros for a full day.
About 11,000 of El Ejido's total population of 75,000 are immigrants who come to work on farms. Most of them are Africans, Romanians and Moroccans. Every year tens of thousands of immigrants come to the region to look for work in greenhouses supplying fruits and vegetables to half of European countries. In most cases, working in a greenhouse is a quick way to make money and obtain a residence permit.
Greenhouse-grown fruits and vegetables generate an estimated $ 1.8 billion a year in the country. Andalusian President Manuel Chavez once said: "If immigrants left El Ejido, its economy would simply collapse." However, as one farmer aptly pointed out, the problem is that there are twice as many immigrants as there are jobs.