J.B. Russell

Projects: EU Immigration II: El Ejido Hothouse

El Ejido is an agricultural center in Spain's southern region of Andalucia. The area is a vast sea of plastic hothouses that produce fruit and vegetables for export to the rest of the European Union. Southern Spain is also a major entry point for clandestine immigration into the EU. Thousands of poor North and sub-Sahara African immigrants, many of whom entered the country illegally, work as cheap itinerant labor in the hothouses. They live in ramshackle shantytowns with no sanitation or electricity scattered around the region. Despite contributing to the development and wealth of the region, racism is prevalent. When a mentally disturbed Moroccan man stabbed a Spanish girl, local residents rioted for three days, violently attacking the North African community.

Vast expanses of greenhouses covering the landscape in southern Spain. Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, seek work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, waiting for prospective jobs at dawn near a shanty town where they live. They seek work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, in a shanty town where they live. They seek work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
Moroccan immigrants in a shanty town where they live. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
A Moroccan immigrant seeking work as a low paid, itinerant laborer in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, working as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
Moroccan immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, working as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Moroccan immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, working as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, working as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, seek work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Moroccan immigrants in a shanty town where they live. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Moroccan immigrants wash in a shanty town where they live. The makeshift lodgings have no sanitation or electricity. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
Moroccan immigrants pray in a shanty town where they live. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Moroccan immigrants slaughter a lamb they have bought according to Muslim tradition in a shantytown where they live. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, drink tea and smoke in a shanty where they live while seeking work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
A Moroccan immigrant in a shanty town where he lives. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, in a shantytown where they live. They seek work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
A Moroccan shop owner looks at his ransacked business following racially motivated violence that targeted the immigrant community after a Spanish girl was killed by a mentally disturbed Moroccan man. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
     
  
A Moroccan man closing his shop after it was ransacked and burned during violent, racist attacks against the immigrant community. Moroccan immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell
   
Moroccan immigrants protest racist violence against the immigrant community. The immigrants, many of whom enter the country illegally, work as low paid, itinerant laborers in thousands of hothouses across Spain's southern Andalucia region. The region produces vegetables and fruit for export to the rest of the European Union.El Ejido, Spain.Photo © J.B. Russell