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Spain is charting a markedly separate path from several European countries when it comes to migration policies and cooperation with the continent of Africa.

Although nations including the US, United Kingdom, French Republic and Federal Republic of Germany are cutting back their international support allocations, the Spanish government stays focused to enhancing its engagement, albeit from a reduced baseline.

Recent Developments

Recently, the Spanish capital has been welcoming an African Union-backed "global summit on persons of African origin". AfroMadrid2025 will discuss restorative justice and the creation of a innovative support mechanism.

This constitutes the latest indication of how the Spanish administration is working to enhance and diversify its engagement with the continent that lies just a few kilometres to the south, over the Mediterranean crossing.

Governmental Approach

This past summer International Relations Head the Spanish diplomat established a recent guidance panel of distinguished academic, foreign service and arts representatives, the majority of them African, to oversee the execution of the detailed Madrid-Africa plan that his leadership released at the close of the prior year.

New embassies south of the Sahara, and cooperative ventures in enterprise and education are arranged.

Immigration Control

The contrast between the Spanish method and that of other Western nations is not just in funding but in tone and philosophy – and particularly evident than in addressing immigration.

Comparable with different EU nations, Government Leader the Spanish premier is looking for ways to control the influx of irregular arrivals.

"In our view, the movement dynamic is not only a matter of ethical standards, solidarity and respect, but also one of logic," the government leader said.

More than 45,000 individuals made the perilous sea crossing from West African coastline to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands recently. Calculations of those who perished while making the attempt range between 1,400 to a overwhelming 10,460.

Practical Solutions

Madrid's government must house new arrivals, evaluate their applications and oversee their integration into wider society, whether temporary or more permanent.

Nevertheless, in rhetoric noticeably distinct from the confrontational statements that originates from numerous EU governments, the Spanish administration frankly admits the challenging monetary conditions on the ground in West Africa that compel individuals to risk their lives in the attempt to attain the European continent.

Furthermore, it attempts to move beyond simply denying access to incoming migrants. Instead, it is developing creative alternatives, with a pledge to promote movements of people that are secure, orderly and regular and "jointly profitable".

Economic Partnerships

On his trip to the Mauritanian Republic recently, the Spanish leader emphasized the input that foreign workers make to the national finances.

Spain's leadership supports skill development initiatives for unemployed youth in states like Senegal, notably for undocumented individuals who have been returned, to support them in establishing workable employment options in their native country.

Additionally, it enlarged a "circular migration" programme that gives individuals from West Africa temporary permits to arrive in the Iberian nation for defined timeframes of seasonal work, mostly in cultivation, and then go back.

Strategic Importance

The fundamental premise guiding Spain's engagement is that the Iberian nation, as the EU member state most proximate to the continent, has an essential self interest in Africa's progress toward comprehensive and lasting growth, and peace and security.

This fundamental reasoning might seem apparent.

However previous eras had guided Spain down a quite different path.

Other than a few Maghreb footholds and a compact tropical possession – today's independent Equatorial Guinea – its colonial expansion in the historical period had mainly been directed across the Atlantic.

Forward Vision

The cultural dimension incorporates not only promotion of the Spanish language, with an increased footprint of the Spanish cultural organization, but also schemes to help the transfer of academic teachers and researchers.

Protection partnership, initiatives concerning global warming, female advancement and an enhanced consular representation are predictable aspects in today's environment.

Nonetheless, the strategy also places significant emphasis it assigns to assisting democratic values, the continental organization and, in especial, the West African regional organization Ecowas.

This will be favorable governmental endorsement for the organization, which is presently facing significant challenges after seeing its 50th anniversary year spoiled by the withdrawal of the Sahelian states – the Sahel country, the Malian Republic and the Nigerien Republic – whose ruling military juntas have declined to adhere with its standard for political freedom and proper administration.

Simultaneously, in a message directed equally toward Madrid's domestic audience as its continental allies, the external affairs department declared "assisting the African community abroad and the struggle versus discrimination and anti-foreigner sentiment are also crucial objectives".

Eloquent statements of course are only a first step. But in the current negative global atmosphere such discourse really does stand out.