Spain eases restrictions on seasonal labor from Poland, unemployment down

Labor Minister Jerzy Hausner and a Spanish government immigration envoy Enrique Fernandez-Miranda y Lozana, signed an agreement on employing Polish seasonal workers and interns in Spain. The former will be able to find work picking fruit or at construction works, while interns will be able to engage in job practice in Spain. "In the last few years unemployment in Spain has fallen from 23% to 10% so we are willing to open our job market to for eigners," Lozana said. Thanks to the agreement, there will be more job offers for Poles, who will get visas and work permits easier and faster than has been the case so far. According to Spanish sources in March 2002 13,000 Poles were working legally in Spain. Poland has signed similar agreements with France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. More good news for those seeking jobs came with the official announcement that unemployment in Poland had fallen from 17.8% to 17.5% in April, which is due to the appearance of seasonal jobs. (Rzeczpospolita. p. A4) K.S.