The Andalusian municipality of Marinaleda in the province of Seville has celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Field Workers' Union under the motto Half a Century Sowing Dignity, Harvesting Rights.
The anniversary program combined historical memory, trade union advocacy, and community celebrations held at the Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo Culture Hall. The venue is named after the historic mayor who governed the municipality for more than four decades at the head of the Unitary Workers' Call.
Proceedings began with welcome addresses delivered by Óscar Reina, spokesperson for the Andalusian Workers' Union, Diego Cañamero, general secretary of the Field Workers' Union, and Sergio Gómez Reyes, the current mayor of Marinaleda.
The Field Workers' Union was established 50 years ago to campaign for agrarian reform and the rights of agricultural day laborers in southern Spain. In 2007, the organization helped found the broader Andalusian Workers' Union, maintaining a central role in the regional labor movement.
Cultural Events and Union Debates
The multi-day gathering featured protest flamenco performances by singers Manuel Gerena and Juan Pinilla, alongside a round table discussion on the international projection of the union outside Andalusia. Actor and activist Willy Toledo also spoke during the opening sessions.
Activities on the second day opened with a guided tour of the El Humoso agricultural cooperative and a screening of the documentary 50 Years of Struggle for the Land. Attendees later participated in two panel debates examining the role of women in the day-laborer movement and hearing personal testimonies from historic union militants.
Participants also joined a solidarity lunch organized to support the Sahrawi people. The events concluded at the natural park amphitheatre, where the Anthem of Andalusia was performed before concerts by singer La Gore, musician Luis Pastor, and local band Molestando a los Vecinos.
Land Reform and Cooperative Agriculture
Speaking to the EFE news agency, Mayor Sergio Gómez Reyes stated that Marinaleda symbolises the fulfillment of long-held aspirations for land reform. He cited the El Humoso estate, a 1,250-hectare property that previously belonged to the Duchy of Infantado.
The regional government of Andalusia expropriated the estate in the 1980s to create irrigated farmland following peaceful land occupations by local agricultural workers. Gómez recalled that during those historic protests, many mothers left their homes to take part in multi-day strikes and hunger strikes.
Today, the land and its associated processing facilities support the municipal economy, which Gómez noted now operates close to full employment. Under a model described as a municipal socialist economy, all profits revert to the community while the town exports artichokes, broad beans, peppers, and olive oil.
Public Services and Regional Politics
Marinaleda maintains extensive public welfare services, including more than 300 public housing units that represent 33 percent of all homes built in the municipality. Monthly rent for public housing is set at 15 euros, while the municipal nursery and local gym each cost 12 euros per month.
Gómez drew attention to those affordable rates at the start of the school year, noting that the Popular Party and Vox had failed to fulfill their regional coalition agreement to guarantee free nursery care for children aged zero to three across Andalusia.
The anniversary took place three months after the Andalusian regional elections on May 17, when Marinaleda reaffirmed its left-wing political stance despite a broader regional shift toward the Popular Party across Seville province. Left-wing parties secured nearly 82 percent of the vote in Marinaleda, with Por Andalucía leading at 57.3 percent, followed by the Socialist Party of Andalusia at 13.5 percent and Adelante Andalucía at 10.7 percent, while the Popular Party received 11.9 percent and Vox obtained less than 4.5 percent.
Similar voting trends were recorded in other traditional agricultural municipalities such as Trebujena and El Coronil, where left-wing lists scored well above regional averages. Gómez concluded that the Field Workers' Union and Marinaleda remain deeply interconnected, stating that the union cannot be understood without the town, and vice versa.
