World-renowned cava producer Freixenet has this Monday announced a furlough plan for 615 employees. The best-known producer of Catalonia's well-known sparkling wine has explained that the main reason is "force majeure" in the current context of the drought affecting the wine sector in Catalonia. The measure will affect the workers of the companies Freixenet SA and Segura Viuda SAU, and will be activated from May.
As explained by the Freixenet company in a statement, the intensity of the furlough will vary depending on the season and the evolution of the causes that motivate it. "The measure, implemented as an exercise of responsibility, aims to guarantee the operation of the business and preserve employability so as to be able to deal with external causes and force majeure caused by the severe drought," they explained from the cava multinational, founded in 1914 at Sant Sadurni de l'Anoia near Barcelona.
Under Spanish legislation, a furlough (ERTE, in its Catalan acronym; ERTO in Spanish) allows employees to be temporarily laid off and receive unemployment benefits when a company faces an exceptional situation but wishes to avoid permanent layoffs. In this case, Freixenet emphasizes that the furlough plan due to force majeure is part of the current context of crisis caused by the lack of grapes resulting from the severe drought that has affected the sector from 2021, with special impact in 2023 in the Penedès area.
"The company has started the procedure with the Catalan business and employment ministry, informing the workers' union representation", concludes the statement of the company, which has been 50% owned by the German firm Henkell since 2018.
Much of Catalonia has been suffering a drought for the last three years. In February this year, the highest level of drought classification, a drought emergency, was declared in the largest eastern, coastal catchments of Catalonia, including most of the Barcelona metropolitan region and the Penedès area, where Freixenet is based.