🔗 Share this article

Madrid is adopting a distinctly different direction from numerous developed states when it comes to immigration strategies and cooperation with the African mainland.

Whereas states such as the USA, UK, France and Federal Republic of Germany are slashing their development aid budgets, the Spanish government stays focused to increasing its involvement, though from a lower starting point.

New Initiatives

This week, the Spanish capital has been hosting an African Union-backed "world conference on individuals with African heritage". The African diaspora summit will explore reparative equity and the formation of a new development fund.

This constitutes the newest evidence of how the Spanish administration is seeking to deepen and diversify its engagement with the continent that lies just a short distance to the south, beyond the Gibraltar passage.

Strategic Framework

In July External Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares initiated a recent guidance panel of distinguished academic, international relations and cultural figures, the majority of them of African origin, to oversee the execution of the detailed Spanish-African initiative that his leadership published at the conclusion of the previous year.

Fresh consular offices below the Sahara desert, and cooperative ventures in business and academic are scheduled.

Movement Regulation

The contrast between Madrid's strategy and that of other Western nations is not just in spending but in perspective and philosophy – and particularly evident than in addressing migration.

Comparable with other European locations, Administration Head Pedro Sanchez is exploring approaches to control the influx of irregular arrivals.

"In our view, the immigration situation is not only a question of moral principles, solidarity and respect, but also one of reason," the administration head said.

Over 45,000 individuals undertook the dangerous ocean journey from the Atlantic African shore to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands the previous year. Calculations of those who lost their lives while trying the crossing extend from 1,400 to a staggering 10,460.

Effective Measures

Madrid's government must house new arrivals, evaluate their applications and handle their incorporation into broader community, whether short-term or more enduring.

Nonetheless, in rhetoric noticeably distinct from the adversarial communication that originates from many European capitals, the Spanish administration openly acknowledges the difficult financial circumstances on the territory in Western Africa that compel individuals to endanger themselves in the attempt to attain EU territory.

And it is trying to transcend simply saying "no" to new arrivals. Conversely, it is developing creative alternatives, with a promise to promote movements of people that are secure, organized and routine and "reciprocally advantageous".

Financial Collaboration

On his trip to Mauritania the previous year, Madrid's representative highlighted the contribution that foreign workers make to the national finances.

Madrid's administration supports educational programs for jobless young people in countries such as the Senegalese Republic, especially for unauthorized persons who have been repatriated, to support them in establishing viable new livelihoods in their homeland.

Furthermore, it increased a "circular migration" programme that offers persons from the region limited-duration authorizations to enter Spanish territory for restricted durations of periodic labor, mostly in cultivation, and then come home.

Policy Significance

The core principle supporting Madrid's outreach is that the European country, as the European country most proximate to the mainland, has an essential self interest in Africa's progress toward inclusive and sustainable development, and peace and security.

That basic rationale might seem obvious.

Yet of course history had taken the Spanish nation down a quite different path.

Other than a several North African presences and a compact tropical possession – today's independent the Gulf of Guinea country – its colonial expansion in the 1500s and 1600s had mainly been directed overseas.

Forward Vision

The heritage aspect includes not only promotion of the Spanish language, with an increased footprint of the language promotion body, but also initiatives to support the transfer of academic teachers and investigators.

Protection partnership, initiatives concerning global warming, women's empowerment and an increased international engagement are expected elements in today's environment.

Nevertheless, the approach also places significant emphasis it assigns to assisting democratic values, the African Union and, in especial, the sub-Saharan cooperative body the West African economic bloc.

This will be favorable governmental endorsement for the latter, which is currently under severe pressure after observing its five-decade milestone spoiled by the withdrawal of the desert region countries – Burkina Faso, the Malian Republic and the Sahel territory – whose ruling military juntas have refused to comply with its standard for political freedom and effective leadership.

Concurrently, in a statement targeted as much at the national citizenry as its African collaborators, the foreign ministry stated "assisting the African community abroad and the fight against racism and xenophobia are also essential focuses".

Eloquent statements of course are only a initial phase. But in today's sour international climate such language really does stand out.