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Spain is charting a markedly separate direction from many developed states when it comes to migration policies and relations toward the continent of Africa.

Although states such as the US, United Kingdom, France and Federal Republic of Germany are cutting back their international support allocations, Spain remains committed to increasing its involvement, though from a modest foundation.

New Initiatives

Recently, the Madrid has been hosting an African Union-backed "world conference on persons of African origin". AfroMadrid2025 will examine reparative equity and the establishment of a new development fund.

This demonstrates the most recent sign of how Spain's socialist-led government is working to enhance and broaden its involvement with the continent that lies just a short distance to the southern direction, over the Mediterranean crossing.

Strategic Framework

In July International Relations Head Madrid's top envoy initiated a new advisory council of renowned scholarly, foreign service and arts representatives, over 50 percent of them from Africa, to monitor the delivery of the comprehensive Spanish-African initiative that his government unveiled at the end of last year.

Additional diplomatic missions in sub-Saharan regions, and collaborations in enterprise and academic are arranged.

Movement Regulation

The contrast between Spain's approach and that of other Western nations is not just in funding but in perspective and philosophy – and especially noticeable than in addressing migration.

Comparable with elsewhere in Europe, Government Leader Pedro Sanchez is looking for ways to manage the entry of unauthorized entrants.

"From our perspective, the movement dynamic is not only a question of moral principles, unity and respect, but also one of logic," the government leader said.

Exceeding 45,000 persons undertook the dangerous ocean journey from West African coastline to the overseas region of the Atlantic islands recently. Calculations of those who died while making the attempt range between 1,400 to a astonishing 10,460.

Effective Measures

Madrid's government needs to shelter fresh migrants, process their claims and oversee their integration into broader community, whether temporary or more enduring.

Nonetheless, in rhetoric markedly different from the hostile messaging that emanates from many European capitals, the Sanchez government frankly admits the challenging monetary conditions on the region in West Africa that compel individuals to endanger themselves in the attempt to attain the European continent.

Additionally, it strives to move beyond simply saying "no" to recent entrants. Rather, it is creating innovative options, with a pledge to foster movements of people that are protected, orderly and standardized and "reciprocally advantageous".

Economic Partnerships

On his trip to the West African nation last year, Sanchez highlighted the participation that foreign workers provide for the Spanish economy.

The Spanish government supports skill development initiatives for youth without work in states like the Senegalese Republic, particularly for irregular migrants who have been repatriated, to help them develop sustainable income sources in their homeland.

Furthermore, it increased a "circular migration" scheme that gives individuals from West Africa temporary permits to come to Spain for defined timeframes of temporary employment, mainly in agriculture, and then go back.

Strategic Importance

The basic concept guiding the Spanish approach is that Spain, as the European country most proximate to the region, has an essential self interest in the region's development toward comprehensive and lasting growth, and stability and safety.

This fundamental reasoning might seem apparent.

Yet of course history had taken Spain down a quite different path.

Apart from a limited Mediterranean outposts and a compact tropical possession – today's independent the Gulf of Guinea country – its colonial expansion in the historical period had mostly been oriented overseas.

Future Outlook

The arts component incorporates not only promotion of the Spanish language, with an expanded presence of the language promotion body, but also schemes to help the mobility of academic teachers and investigators.

Security co-operation, measures regarding environmental shifts, female advancement and an expanded diplomatic presence are predictable aspects in contemporary circumstances.

Nevertheless, the plan also lays very public stress it assigns to assisting democratic values, the continental organization and, in particular, the regional West African group the Economic Community of West African States.

This constitutes positive official support for the latter, which is now experiencing substantial difficulties after witnessing its half-century celebration tainted by the departure of the Sahel nations – the West African nation, Mali and the Nigerien Republic – whose controlling military regimes have chosen not to follow 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 battle against prejudice and immigrant hostility are also key priorities".

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