In Almería’s vast farms, tens of thousands of migrant workers pick fruit and vegetables destined for such UK supermarkets as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl and Aldi.

These migrant employees are vital to both the Spanish economy and pan-European food supply chains. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic they have held 'essential' worker status, labouring in the fields to produce food while millions across the world sheltered in their homes.

Despite their essential worker status and the necessity of their contributions to the European economy, not to mention the rapidly increasing threat of COVID-19, many of these migrant workers are living in slums and have not been given personal protective equipment (PPE).

In the 31 000 hectares (76 600 acres) of farms and greenhouses in the region of Andalucía known as Europe's garden, there are as many as 92 informal slums housing farm workers, many of whom are migrants who had seen employment as key to their integration in Spain. These inhabitants do not have access to electricity, running water or sanitation.

Now, as Almería fights a wave of COVID-19 infections, workers say they have been left completely unprotected. In an interview one migrant worker summed up their situation by saying: ''we pick your food, but our health doesn’t matter to anyone".