There are enough workers in Spain, but they are not that cheap as the migrants from China obviously.

Chinese companies are again following the same playbook: ‘Import’ workers from China and less developed countries that can done be exploited.

One of the recent examples was BYD’s factory in Brazil that was shut down by authorities over slavery conditions in 2024.

Similarly, a report last year revealed that labour conditions in two Chinese-owned factories in Serbia - the Zijin Mining Group and Linglong Tire Factory - adhered to six indicators of forced labor (opens pdf) as per the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) definition.

A more comprehensive report on overseas Chinese workers exposed to risks of forced labour and human trafficking with examples from across the globe can be found here.

In research report published in 2022 for Chinese Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in Africa found that:

• In host countries with weaker collective labor rights, Chinese FDI increases the number of Chinese expatriate workers.
• In host countries with stronger collective labor rights, Chinese FDI does not increase the number of expatriate workers.
• Both cross-national analyses of a panel dataset and firm-level analysis suggest evidence to support this claim.

There is ample evidence for forced labour and human trafficking by Chinese companies, inside their country and abroad. You’ll easily find more. I am just wondering what Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez has to say about that.

Addition:

Europol reported in January this year: 30 arrested in crackdown on Chinese human trafficking ring in Spain and Croatia

Victims trafficked by the group were identified in exploitation networks across multiple EU countries