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The Call of the Strawberries

Ten percent of all Romanians work abroad - primarily as harvest workers - because salaries in their country are too low.

Tumult reigns in summer in front of the Spanish embassy in Bucharest. Dozens of Romanians press against the barriers, and tents are pitched on a nearby traffic island. The so-called Capsunari - derived from the Romanian "capsun", or strawberry - await their work visas.

Photo: AP

Each year legions of workers leave Romania for Spain, and it's well worth their while. As one young woman says: "In Spain I can earn in a few weeks what I make here in three months. The work is hard, but I can send my mother 600 euros a month."

Favourite destinations

At present, between 1.5 and 3.4 million Romanians from all levels of society earn their money abroad. There are no exact figures; the large number of seasonal workers and the many unregistered guest workers make precise estimations impossible. On average, one tenth of Romania's total population works abroad - primarily as harvest workers, but also in the public health system, the IT branch and skilled trade. Most left in the early 1990s, when the yearly inflation rate at times reached over 250 percent. Italy and Spain, where cultural and linguistic integration is relatively easy, are the preferred destinations. Many also come to Germany, where they have distant relatives.

The high cost of living

The majority of exiled Romanians are under 40. Although they should form the backbone of the domestic economy, until now only few have returned home. The major reason is the enormous disparity between average wages and prices in Romania. In 2007 the national average for wages was just 313 euros per month, while rents in cities and prices in supermarkets are as high as in Western Europe. A litre of milk costs one euro, a cappuccino in a café two, while a pair of brand-name jeans will cost around 100 euros. Many Romanians take out personal loans to cover their costs, relying on money transferred by relatives abroad. Last year Romanian exiled workers sent seven billion dollars back home - five percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Job exchanges for Romanians

The major problem facing the Romanian domestic economy is the lack of workers, above all skilled ones. The unemployment rate is low (under 5 percent nationwide, under two percent in business centres like Bucharest and Temeswar), and entrepreneurs never stop complaining about how difficult it is to find qualified personnel. This has led Romania to woo workers in Western Europe. Regular job exchanges take place in Spain and Italy for exiled Romanians. After all, Romania can boast stable economic growth and is no longer a low-wage country. "The quality of investors is increasing overall. Textiles have been replaced by the automotive industry, and it too is considering moving on," writes Malte Kessler, dpa business correspondent in Romania. Wages and living standards rise along with the quality of investors. This fact, together with the Romanians' undying love for their country - in 2007, a social report by Radio Romania International showed 76 percent of all respondents were proud or very proud of their nationality - could have Romanians coming home in droves.

No new exodus

Although Romania's joining the EU in 2007 brought its citizens freedom of travel, a new wave of emigration is not in the offing. Many states, including Germany, France and the UK, have introduced protection clauses to safeguard their labour markets until 2014. And even complete liberalisation of the European labour market is unlikely to result in a new surge of migrant workers, because job prospects are drying up in Spain and Italy, the Romanian workers' countries of choice. The Spanish construction crisis will cost the sector 200,000 jobs this year, and guest workers are generally the first to have to pack their bags.

Jakob Horstmann

Jakob Horstmann was born in Bielefeld in 1980. A member of n-ost correspondent's network, he works at the Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung für Rumänien (ADZ) in ...
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