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Spain to cut long-term labor contracts for non-EU nations

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-17 13:30

MADRID -- Spain will take in no more than 1000 long-term contract workers from non-EU countries in 2009, a 94-percent cut compared to this year, Immigration Affairs Director Martha Rodriguez Tarduchy said Monday.

In view of the global financial crisis and a difficult employment situation, the Spanish government has had to shut its doors to non-EU foreign workers to preserve jobs for its own people, local media reported.

Figures from Eurostat, the European Union (EU)'s statistics bureau, showed that Spain's unemployment rate in October had reached 12.8 percent, 5.7 percent higher than the EU average.

Long-term contract workers in Spain refer to those who work more than one year in the country, and their actual number is based on job market demands.

The government sanctioned 15,700 long-term contract workers from non-EU countries in 2008.