More than just exploitation
It has been determined that 450 workers were employed illegally at the construction site where Limak is expanding Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium. Workers without work permits, forced to work excessive hours and kept in unhygienic conditions, were dismissed when they sought their rights.
Melisa Ay
Camp Nou, the stadium of Barcelona, one of Spain's biggest teams, is expanding through labour exploitation. Limak, the affiliate company responsible for the stadium's construction, is building Europe's largest stadium with hundreds of undocumented workers. Hundreds of workers from Turkey, Morocco, Pakistan, and various North African and South American countries are being exploited with long working hours. Camp Nou is rising on the exploited labour of workers, thanks to the agreement signed in 2023 and the iconic Limak tower cranes.
Electrician Emre Akkuş, who was dismissed after participating in a work stoppage protest against labour exploitation, says that what is happening at Limak's construction site in Barcelona is systematic exploitation. Akkuş, who started working here in February, explained that apart from the residence card he obtained from Hungary, the company did not apply for the work permit, which is its legal obligation. Akkuş, who also described the inadequate safety measures at the construction site, said, “I came from Hungary, where I had permits. According to the law, the company was required to obtain residence and work permits, but they did not do so; they did not even have us sign a contract. We were put to work on our first day in Barcelona; they did not even provide occupational health and safety training; they only provided the training a month later.”
Limak purchases the labour of migrant workers from poor countries through subcontractor companies. The OHS assistants working here and most of the workers involved in electrical and welding-assembly work are those who came from Turkey to work in Barcelona.
Limak's tactic is to gather workers with work and residence permits in the European Union to the construction site through subcontractor companies. The residence card gives these workers the right to move within the EU. The company exploits their right to move to employ them illegally, without a work permit. Workers from Turkey are not insured in Spain. Akkuş says that around 70-100 workers like himself were brought from Turkey. The workers appear to be insured by the subcontractor Extreme İşler. In addition to Extreme İşler, the Lithuania-based company Extreme Works also carries out subcontracting work for Limak. According to Kıvanç Eliaçık's article ‘Barcelona acı vatan’ (Barcelona, bitter homeland) published on İlke TV, the workers cannot return home due to visa violations and cannot even go to the country for funerals.
UNION RAID
Workers are often made to work 7 days a week, far exceeding the legal monthly working time of 176 hours. Findings by official institutions acting in cooperation with DİSK/Dev Yapı-İş and the Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (CCOO) also point in this direction. Labour inspectors, alerted by CCOO, raided the construction site and identified workers being employed without insurance. Labour inspectors who raided Limak's Camp Nou construction site about three months ago found that 450 workers were being illegally employed for long hours.
While about 60 of these workers were from Turkey, Akkuş said, “It was confirmed that we were working without insurance and without permission, as required by law. As the pressure increased, the company's hand weakened. They decided to send those whose residence permits had expired; they gave 12 people their exit permits. We also took action. Twenty-five people participated, and after a while, 13 more people were given their exit permits. Now 22 more have been dismissed. There are no Turkish workers left at Extreme İşler, where we are affiliated. Now we are all waiting for the decisions to be made by the official institutions.”
“There are people here working 250–300 hours a month,” continued Akkuş, “even if the salaries are paid on time, overtime pay is not paid. The food is terrible, the drinking water is dirty, there are no hygiene conditions. You can't find a single bar of soap on the construction site. Now that they've fired us, we haven't received our November wages either” drawing attention to the conditions.
Akkuş said, “DİSK and CCOO worked together for us. The union here also helped us in every way. The union members also showed solidarity. In the early days, intense pressure was also effective. Signature campaigns were organised, and the issue was covered in the media. Even Real Madrid fans supported us on social media, saying “It's the rival team's business”. Thanks to the unions' application, labour inspectors raided this place,” describing their actions. The workers continue to raise their voices with work stoppages at the construction site, thanks to the solidarity of both the unions and the Catalans.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Bir sömürüden daha fazlası, published in BirGün newspaper on November 18, 2025.
