The quarantine that Spain’s fruit-pickers never want to end
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Juneda, Spain — Moroccan fruit-picker Abdelhak el Yakoubi was dizzy and aching when he arrived at La Manreana, a farm school in Spain that has been turned into a quarantine centre for agricultural workers with Covid-19.
But less than a week later the burly 46-year-old was back on his feet and preparing to reunite with his family. He credited his speedy recovery to fresh air, peace and quiet and the chance to unwind with a kickabout or a game of ping-pong.
“I’m outside all day until 10 at night, relaxing in the fresh air, it’s really great,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from the other side of a fence dividing infected and infection-free areas of the farm.
“When I first arrived, I was really aching on one side, had a very dry throat and felt dizzy, but now I feel a lot better,” he said, still noticeably short of breath.
El Yakoubi was among 21 seasonal farm workers who tested positive for coronavirus and who were self-isolating at the farm recently after being referred by local health authorities. Some were sent because they are homeless, while others did not have enough room to self-isolate at home. All had mild symptoms of the respiratory disease.
Mostly men, the majority are from Senegal, but some come from Algeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Bolivia and elsewhere.
La Manreana, which normally hosts groups of schoolchildren learning about farm animals and helping to make cheese and milk, lies in Lleida province, a Covid-19 hotspot in the northeastern region of Catalonia. Spain’s three-month lockdown was lifted in June, but new isolated outbreaks among farm workers at two localities in Lleida have led the regional government to impose localised lockdowns since then.
About 25,000 migrants from Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe arrive between April and November for the annual harvesting season in Lleida, which produces apples, pears and peaches.
The farm, around a rustic early 20th century farmhouse, is an idyllic spot, with wide views stretching over a plateau and a pretty approach lined by apple and pear trees. Animals roam in an area divided off from where the patients spend their days, but those convalescing have access to a football field, ping-pong tables and large grassy areas.
The freedom enjoyed by patients and their proximity to nature at La Manreana is a world apart from the hotel rooms mainly used to isolate fruit-pickers with the ...
But less than a week later the burly 46-year-old was back on his feet and preparing to reunite with his family. He credited his speedy recovery to fresh air, peace and quiet and the chance to unwind with a kickabout or a game of ping-pong.
“I’m outside all day until 10 at night, relaxing in the fresh air, it’s really great,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from the other side of a fence dividing infected and infection-free areas of the farm.
“When I first arrived, I was really aching on one side, had a very dry throat and felt dizzy, but now I feel a lot better,” he said, still noticeably short of breath.
El Yakoubi was among 21 seasonal farm workers who tested positive for coronavirus and who were self-isolating at the farm recently after being referred by local health authorities. Some were sent because they are homeless, while others did not have enough room to self-isolate at home. All had mild symptoms of the respiratory disease.
Mostly men, the majority are from Senegal, but some come from Algeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Bolivia and elsewhere.
La Manreana, which normally hosts groups of schoolchildren learning about farm animals and helping to make cheese and milk, lies in Lleida province, a Covid-19 hotspot in the northeastern region of Catalonia. Spain’s three-month lockdown was lifted in June, but new isolated outbreaks among farm workers at two localities in Lleida have led the regional government to impose localised lockdowns since then.
About 25,000 migrants from Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe arrive between April and November for the annual harvesting season in Lleida, which produces apples, pears and peaches.
The farm, around a rustic early 20th century farmhouse, is an idyllic spot, with wide views stretching over a plateau and a pretty approach lined by apple and pear trees. Animals roam in an area divided off from where the patients spend their days, but those convalescing have access to a football field, ping-pong tables and large grassy areas.
The freedom enjoyed by patients and their proximity to nature at La Manreana is a world apart from the hotel rooms mainly used to isolate fruit-pickers with the ...