Spain: construction workers now picking grapes

MADRID, Spain: A union says more Spaniards will head to France this summer to work in the grape harvest because of rising unemployment in the Spanish construction industry.

General Workers Union expert Maria Angeles Repilado predicts a 10 percent increase to around 12,000 in the number of Spanairds heading north for this seasonal work.

She says they will earn €8.71 (US$13.49) per hour, compared to €6 (US$9.29) for farmwork in Spain.

Repilado told the AP on Wednesday the increase is due to sharply higher joblessness in Spain's once-booming building sector, which is now flat because of the drop in home sales