According to Esteve Freixas, president of the local employers' association, labor costs have risen by 18.8% since June 2022. Currently, the hourly rate for a bricklayer in Girona exceeds 28 euros, leaving many small businesses with almost no financial cushion.
“"Small business owners are almost losing money; if other sectors worked with these margins, they would have closed."
The industry also faces a significant labor shortage. Freixas criticized the lack of specialized vocational training in the province and called for legal changes to allow 16-year-olds to enter construction sites to ensure a future workforce for the aging sector.
