Elma Saiz travels to Mauritania to reinforce circular migration programmes, which benefited companies and 17,200 workers in 2023

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mohammed Cheikh El Ghazouani, appear before the media (Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo)

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, reiterated "the importance of strengthening relations with friendly countries like Mauritania, with whom Spain has deep historical ties of friendship, neighbourliness and cooperation".

This is what she said after her visit to Mauritania as part of the trip to Africa on which she is accompanying the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and in which he has formalised the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Circular Migration that will promote the development of programmes for selecting workers in their country of origin. They will then visit Senegal and The Gambia, with whom they will also sign a memorandum to promote circular migration and recruitment in the workers' countries of origin.

What is circular migration?

Circular migration is another tool available to sectors experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies. Other tools include the skilled migration regulation through the Large Business Unit or the available forms of recruitment for people already in Spain, such as the temporary residence permit for training.

Circular migration is also a paradigmatic example of legal, orderly and safe migration that offers a "triple win": it allows people to find opportunities abroad without breaking ties with their country of origin; it helps companies to find the qualified professionals they need; and, at the bilateral level, it is a tool for cooperation and relations between countries at the international level.

Pursuant to the Organic Law and according to the national employment situation, the Ministry of Inclusion may approve an annual forecast of the occupations and, where appropriate, of the expected number of jobs that can be filled through this collective management of recruitment in workers' countries of origin for a given period. Only foreign workers who do not reside in Spain will have access to this. This year, the Order of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration regulating the collective management of recruitment in workers' countries of origin [gestión colectiva de contrataciones en origen (GECCO)] for 2024 was published in the Official State Gazette on 30 December.

This type of recruitment involves drawing on circular migration to fill positions of a seasonal, time-limited or crop-growing nature, for example.

Reforming the regulation on foreigners has greatly simplified the procedures for circular migration. They grant people a four-year permit to work for a maximum of 9 months per year on a fixed-term contract. This allows them to travel to Spain every year to work, and to return to their country of origin after that period with guarantees set out in their contract that they will be called up again for the following season. Before the reform, these projects had to be processed every year, and now they are processed once every four years, significantly reducing all the administrative burdens for companies and for migrant workers.

The Ministry's Directorate General for Migration Management is responsible for contacting the Spanish Embassy in the country in question, which notifies the local authorities of job offers. If the country considers that it can meet this demand, it launches the recruitment process.

Figures and results

Spain has been working with circular migration programmes since 2000, when this concept was included in the Organic Law 4/2000 of 11 January on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration.

However, the range of countries of origin with which these programmes are being developed has been expanding.

This approach has been consolidated in recent years, especially after the reform to the regulation on foreigners in 2022, issues relating to determining the national employment situation and figures on temporary residence permits (for training) were modified, and the regulation was adapted to the impact of the labour reform. It is now a tool for meeting the demands of the Spanish labour market, but also for cooperating with workers' countries of origin, as in many cases it includes training workers and, consequently, associated benefit for their communities when they return.

Programme development since the regulation reform in 2022

The job offers are aimed at countries with which Spain has signed agreements on regulating and managing migratory flows. In 2022, agreements were signed with countries like Morocco, Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador, and 19,100 workers travelled to Spain. Subsequently, in 2023, it was extended to three more countries (Senegal, Argentina and Uruguay), benefiting around 17,200 people.

In 2024, the countries involved already include Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, Guatemala, Uruguay, Argentina, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia. There are also States with which Spain has cooperation instruments in place covering these matters: Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Mali, Niger, Mexico, El Salvador, the Philippines and Paraguay.

In 2024, to date, the number of workers is 20,515.

Minister Saiz expressed Spain's commitment to advancing safe migration channels while, at the same time, pursuing mafias and prosecuting human trafficking crimes. "Circular migration programmes are a win-win for all parties involved. They are an extraordinary example of our migration policy: we procure the labour we need in sectors that are difficult to cover, we protect the rights of workers, and we also facilitate the return of these people to their countries of origin, with the benefits that this may bring in terms of developing their communities."

Success stories and other programmes for boosting employability

An example of a legal migration programme is Wafira, aimed at Moroccan women employed in the red fruit harvest in Huelva, which includes training in entrepreneurship and which has already benefited 173 women.

The 'Wafira' project began in October 2021 and will run until February 2025. Its total cost is 3.25 million euros, which is co-financed by the European Union through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF). The design, implementation and regular monitoring of the project are the responsibility of the governments of Spain and Morocco, which thus strengthen relations between the two countries on the basis of collaboration in the field of regular migration.

Once the programme has reached its conclusion, the participating workers return to their country of origin, where they receive assistance from both the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Moroccan institutions to start up businesses in sectors including commerce, catering, agriculture and livestock farming.

According to various studies by the UN, the European Commission, the IMF, Airef and the Bank of Spain, Spain needs around 300,000 migrant workers a year to sustain the welfare state. Circular migration, together with other programmes, such as the National Refugee Resettlement Plan, which provides employment for refugees, are part of the Government of Spain's migration strategy that puts human rights, legal migration channels, employability and inclusion of people at the centre.

The comprehensive reform of the Foreigners Regulation, which was presented at the beginning of August and is currently in the public hearing process, will give a boost to simplifying these channels for cooperation and labour relations. For example, the new regulation provides stability to the rules to improve collective bargaining in workers' countries of origin by employers. This improvement is intended to help promote lawful and orderly channels for legal migration and good selection processes in workers' countries of origin.

Non official translation