In October 2025, Jacobin released an article highlighting the impacts of the climate crises on migrant farmworkers in Spain amid a lack of protections from the heat.
The article describes the deaths of three migrant farmworkers this summer:
- A Romanian worker picking fruit near Lleida, Catalonia, died following a 10-hour shift in the heat. He allegedly asked his supervisor to go home but she refused to let him, and did not call an ambulance or help him, or notify his family. Reporting by Catalan News says the worker was working for a company called Agroalimentària El Pla through a temporary employment company called Empleo Express. Agroalimentària El Pla told journalists that it would launch an internal review and Empleo Express said the worker had received safety training.
- A farm labourer from Senegal, who worked in the industrial greenhouses in the southern region of Almería, died of heatstroke at work in August. The Farm Workers’ Union–Andalusian Workers’ Union alleged the death occurred during hours prohibited by the farm labour agreement and in conditions that violated safety regulations.
- An undocumented worker from Pakistan also died followed alleged heat exposure, after his company reportedly refused to call an ambulance.
The article highlights that the climate crises is producing “multiplier effects” that are catalysing human rights risks to migrants across the country. The article also sheds light on a lack of labour regulation enforcement, amid “rampant violations” of safety regulations that exist during heat waves.
The article also emphasises the impact of extreme rainfall alongside heat waves, which has disrupted the picking season and left workers with reduced income. The report includes interviews with migrant workers living in extremely poor conditions and working for very low pay below minimum wage.