Located around 50 kilometers away from Roquetas de Mar, the town of El Ejido is stretched on approximately 12 km along the N 340 motorway, traversing what was formerly a wilderness of sand dunes. This area is not one gigantic plantation producing most of the fruits and vegetables that are being sold in northern Europe. It is plastic greenhouse farming at its best, making El Ejido the most prosperous area in Andalusia.
The development of the city started in the 1970s. It has brought an influx of workers from all over Spain and from other countries as well, who invested in plots of land. There were around 10,000 immigrants, mainly from Morocco, who provided a good working mass. The population in 1980 was 2,000 and in just a quarter of a century 50,000.