When a door on the migratory routes that give access to Spain closes; another opens. It is not a new premise, but in the last two years it has become more evident than ever after the Government of Pedro Sánchez relies on a large part of its immigration policy on collaboration with third countries.
After Spain reconciled with Morocco—after a diplomatic crisis that lasted more than a year—pateras from the Aluit coasts decreased so much that the balance of irregular arrivals registered historic lows. This greater Moroccan border control caused the Canary Islands route to move its point of origin to Senegal last summer. In autumn all arrival records to the archipelago were shattered, surpassing the historic canoe crisis of 2006. The Government then put all its efforts into collaboration with Dakar to stop the departures.
And when at the end of the year it seemed that the route to the Canary Islands—the deadliest in the world—had subsided, all the alerts went off when it was detected that the boats leaving from Mauritania were shooting. Eight out of every ten canoes that now arrive to the islands leave from Mauritanian coasts.
With the emergency pilot light on, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, travels today to Nouakchott to meet with his Mauritanian counterpart Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. He does so hand in hand with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to achieve greater rapprochement between the European Union and the African country that is experiencing an unprecedented refugee crisis due to the destabilization suffered by its neighbors in the Sahel. .
It is estimated that in the Mbera camp, on the border with Mali, some 92,000 people live poorly. And the number increases every week because thousands of Malians continue to arrive fleeing the war between Tuaregs, jihadists and the Army. According to the Government of Mauritania, the number of refugees and asylum seekers has increased from 57,000 in 2019 to 112,000 in 2023. That was an emergency call to face the humanitarian crisis, which is having its repercussions in Spain.
Von der Leyen is expected to announce an aid package from the European budget that will be around 200 million euros, according to community sources informed La Vanguardia. Sánchez is also expected to put a “powerful” amount of funds on the table to help Mauritania. The philosophy of this aid is in line with the agreement with Tunisia—to stop entry into Italy, which is no longer the main access route to Europe; Now it's Spain. That is, combine police collaboration agreements to increase border control with investments in the country to create opportunities that discourage irregular migration.
In the latter, the commitment to green hydrogen will take on great importance, according to Presidency sources. The idea is for Mauritania to become a renewable energy hub in which Spanish companies have a large presence. But this will be cooperation in the medium or long term: now the urgent thing is to stop the arrivals of boats at a time when the forecasts are not at all favorable.
Spain has had the worst start to the year in terms of irregular immigration entries. The Canary Islands route, which continues to be in full swing, recorded the arrival of 7,270 people in January, 1,184% more than in 2023, according to Government figures. But something has changed since mid-December, when a serious rebound in departures from Mauritanian coasts began to be recorded. After an autumn in which cayucos from Senegal have led the Canary Islands route to break all arrival records, now more than 80% of the boats that are touching land in the Canary archipelago come from Mauritania.
Spain's intention is to increase police collaboration for border control in a scenario in which boat departure points are diversifying. From Nouadhibou, which was the quintessential area of departure, to the capital – where Sánchez and Von der Leyen have moved – the places of departure have multiplied; something that greatly complicates surveillance work. In October, when the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, moved to Mauritania in the midst of the migration crisis, he highlighted the work of the teams that the National Police and Civil Guard have deployed in the country working side by side with their Mauritanian colleagues in the patrolling.
Their work, according to the words of the head of the Interior, has prevented the departure of 7,000 migrants at source. However, for the moment it is ruled out to increase the deployment of fifty Spanish agents who have their own land resources, with patrol boats, boats and helicopters.
But the President of the Government wants to go further. Sánchez aims to show Spain's commitment to the development and stability of the country with a comprehensive approach to the challenge of migratory flows. According to government sources, Sánchez will sign a country association framework with the Mauritanian authorities; the most relevant document that the Spanish cooperation system has to articulate international cooperation measures with a strategic country. It, according to the same sources, will include a pilot circular migration program like the one that the Ministry of Inclusion has underway with Central American countries to bring refugee families to Spain through employment.
Another of the fundamental axes on which the President of the Government's trip to Mauritania pivots is that of security; once this country has become one of the most stable within the region. At a time when the anti-jihadist alliance created by five African countries in 2015 – under the name of G5 of the Sahel – has dissolved after Mauritania and Chad signed its death after the departure of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, from the West Mauritania is going to be the last bastion in the area that has not chosen Russia as a new partner to fight terrorism. And that is where Spain understands that the European Union cannot leave a vacuum of presence in the face of instability.
