Spain is kicking against the prevailing political mood among Western nations when it comes to migration and policies regarding the African continent.
At a time when the US, the UK, France and Germany are all cutting back their development aid budgets, Madrid remains committed to continued expansion, albeit from a lower starting point.
This week, the Spanish capital has been hosting an African Union-backed world conference on people of African descent. AfroMadrid2025 will discuss restorative justice and the creation of a new development fund.
It is just the latest sign of how Spain's socialist-led government is seeking to deepen and diversify its engagement with the continent and near neighbour that lies just a few kilometres to the south, across the Straits of Gibraltar.
In July, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares launched a new advisory council of prominent intellectual, diplomatic and cultural figures, more than half of them African, to monitor the delivery of the detailed Spain-Africa strategy that his government published at the end of last year.
New embassies south of the Sahara, and partnerships in business and education are planned.
The contrast between Spain's approach and that of others in the West is not just in spending but in tone and mindset – and nowhere more so than in dealing with migration.
Similar to elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is looking for ways to contain the influx of irregular arrivals.
Like other centre-left and centre-right leaders, he finds himself facing an electoral challenge from the radical right, largely driven by some voters' concern over migration, with the hardline Vox party well established in parliament and routinely ranking third in opinion polls.
In July, extra security forces had to be deployed against racist thugs roaming the streets of Torre Pacheco, in the Murcia region – where many Africans work in the booming horticultural sector – after three Moroccans were accused of beating a pensioner.
While the opposition conservative People's Party remains favourable to some immigration, but for cultural reasons wants to prioritise Latin Americans rather than Africans, Vox has been more radical.
Responding to the Murcia incident, Vox called for a crackdown on immigrants taking up less skilled jobs. The message largely targeted Africans working in fruit and vegetable production, now so crucial to the southern Spanish economy.
But for the government, migration presents challenges that are as much practical as political.
More than 45,000 people made the perilous sea crossing from Africa's west coast to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands last year, with estimates of those who died while making the attempt ranging between 1,400 and a staggering 10,460.
The Spanish administration has to accommodate new arrivals, process their claims, and manage their absorption into wider society, whether temporary or more long-lasting.
However, in language markedly different from the hostile messaging that emanates from many European capitals, the Sanchez government openly acknowledges the hard economic realities on the ground in West Africa that push people to risk their lives in the effort to reach Europe.
And it is trying to move beyond simply saying no to new arrivals. Instead, it is developing creative alternatives, with a promise to foster movements of people that are safe, orderly, and regular and mutually beneficial.
On his trip to Mauritania last year, Sanchez emphasized the contribution that migrants make to the Spanish economy.
For us, the migratory phenomenon is not only a question of moral principles, solidarity, and dignity, but also one of rationality, the prime minister said.
The Spanish government funds training schemes for unemployed youth in countries such as Senegal, especially for irregular migrants who have been sent back, to help them develop viable new livelihoods back home.
It has also expanded a circular migration programme that gives West Africans short-term visas to come to Spain for limited periods of seasonal work, mainly in agriculture, and then return.
These issues were at the heart of the agenda when Sanchez visited Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania in August last year.
A circular migration agreement with the former had been in place since 2021, but similar accords with the Mauritanian and Gambian governments have since followed.
The underlying case for this singular approach was set out in detail in the foreign ministry's Spain-Africa strategy, highlighting the notion that Europe and Africa form part of the same geopolitical space.
Spain’s Africa strategy emphasizes not just economic sectors such as infrastructure, digitalization, and energy transition but also particularly on education and youth employment.
The cultural dimension includes not only promotion of the Spanish language, with an expanded presence of the Cervantes Institute, but also programmes to help the mobility of academic teachers and researchers.
Security cooperation, action on climate change, women's empowerment, and an expanded diplomatic presence are also critical components in today’s environment.
The strategy stresses support for democratic values, the African Union, and, in particular, the West African regional organization Ecowas, which is currently under severe pressure following the walk-out of Sahelian states due to military juntas defying its protocols.
In conclusion, the Spanish government's outreach connects deeply to the recognition that Spain, as the closest European nation to Africa, holds a vested interest in the continent's progress toward inclusive and sustainable development.
