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Spain is charting a noticeably unique course from numerous Western nations when it comes to migration policies and engagement with the African continent.

Whereas states such as the US, UK, France and Germany are reducing their development aid budgets, the Spanish government remains committed to expanding its participation, even from a reduced baseline.

Recent Developments

This week, the capital city has been hosting an continent-endorsed "global summit on persons of African origin". The African diaspora summit will explore reparative equity and the formation of a fresh assistance program.

This represents the most recent sign of how the Spanish administration is working to enhance and broaden its involvement with the continent that lies just a few kilometres to the south, across the Straits of Gibraltar.

Policy Structure

During summer External Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares established a recent guidance panel of distinguished academic, foreign service and arts representatives, more than half of them of African origin, to monitor the delivery of the detailed Spain-Africa strategy that his government published at the end of last year.

Additional diplomatic missions south of the Sahara, and collaborations in commerce and academic are arranged.

Movement Regulation

The distinction between Spain's approach and that of other Western nations is not just in funding but in perspective and mindset – and particularly evident than in dealing with immigration.

Similar to elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is seeking methods to control the influx of irregular arrivals.

"For us, the migratory phenomenon is not only a question of moral principles, mutual support and honor, but also one of reason," the prime minister said.

More than 45,000 individuals attempted the hazardous maritime passage from West African coastline to the overseas region of the Atlantic islands recently. Estimates of those who lost their lives while undertaking the journey extend from 1,400 to a astonishing 10,460.

Effective Measures

The Spanish administration needs to shelter fresh migrants, review their cases and manage their absorption into larger population, whether temporary or more permanent.

Nevertheless, in rhetoric distinctly separate from the adversarial communication that comes from many European capitals, the Spanish administration openly acknowledges the difficult financial circumstances on the ground in West Africa that force persons to jeopardize their safety in the endeavor to achieve the European continent.

Furthermore, it attempts to move beyond simply denying access to incoming migrants. Conversely, it is designing original solutions, with a commitment to foster human mobility that are secure, orderly and routine and "reciprocally advantageous".

Commercial Cooperation

While traveling to Mauritania last year, Sanchez stressed the input that migrants provide for the Spanish economy.

The Spanish government supports educational programs for jobless young people in states like the Senegalese Republic, notably for undocumented individuals who have been sent back, to help them develop viable new livelihoods in their native country.

Furthermore, it increased a "cyclical relocation" programme that offers West Africans short-term visas to come to Spain for restricted durations of temporary employment, mainly in agriculture, and then come home.

Strategic Importance

The core principle guiding Spain's engagement is that Spain, as the continental nation closest to the continent, has an crucial domestic priority in the region's development toward inclusive and sustainable development, and peace and security.

That basic rationale might seem apparent.

Nevertheless previous eras had guided Spain down a distinctly separate route.

Apart from a limited Mediterranean outposts and a compact tropical possession – currently sovereign Equatorial Guinea – its territorial acquisition in the historical period had primarily been focused toward the Americas.

Prospective Direction

The cultural dimension includes not only dissemination of the national tongue, with an expanded presence of the Cervantes Institute, but also initiatives to help the movement of academic teachers and scholars.

Defense collaboration, measures regarding environmental shifts, gender equality and an expanded diplomatic presence are expected elements in contemporary circumstances.

Nonetheless, the plan also puts notable focus it allocates for backing democratic principles, the African Union and, in particular, the West African regional organization Ecowas.

This constitutes positive official support for the organization, which is now experiencing substantial difficulties after seeing its 50th anniversary year tainted by the departure of the Sahelian states – Burkina Faso, the West African state and the Nigerien Republic – whose governing armed forces have refused to comply with its agreement regarding democratic governance and effective leadership.

Concurrently, in a communication aimed similarly at Madrid's domestic audience as its sub-Saharan partners, the foreign ministry said "supporting the African diaspora and the struggle versus discrimination and immigrant hostility are also essential focuses".

Fine words of course are only a beginning stage. But in contemporary pessimistic worldwide environment such discourse really does distinguish itself.