During his tour of Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal, Pedro Sánchez reached agreements with their authorities to promote circular migration programs between Spain and the three African countries. His announcement, based on the search for legal migration routes that the Spanish president wants to promote as a formula to reduce irregular arrivals on Spanish shores, was criticized by the Popular Party, claiming that it could cause a “call effect”.
These are some keys to understanding what circular migration is, on which the government is betting.
What is this?
Circular migration is a mechanism that consists of hiring workers in their country of origin with the aim of sending them to Spain to work for a season in sectors that have more difficulty filling vacancies, such as agriculture and construction. Once the contract – fixed and discontinuous –, which cannot last more than nine months each year, has ended, the employee must return home.
Can these workers return to work in Spain?
Yes. The authorization obtained by foreign workers who participate in these programs lasts for four years, although each year they can only work for a maximum of nine months. “This allows them to come to work each year, and to return after this period with the guarantees established in their contract that they will be summoned the season or the following season,” explains the Ministry of Inclusion, Security and Migration, responsible for implementing and monitoring these programs.
Are these programs new?
No. Circular migration has existed since 2000, when the Immigration Law was approved, which regulated what is technically known as the Collective Management Order of Contracts at Origin (Gecco). That is why the PP and PSOE governments have used this formula to put foreign workers in contact with companies that need labor in very specific sectors and support their transfer to Spain during a specific season, provided that these employees return to their country of origin. country of origin.
Until a few years ago, this type of program was reserved, with a few exceptions, for Moroccan citizens – especially women – employed in the harvesting campaigns. As an example, the contingents of women who come every year from Morocco to Huelva to pick strawberries stand out.
With the reform of the Immigration Law approved in 2022, some specific characteristics of the circular migration program model have been modified. Among the changes, it is worth highlighting the simplification of procedures, since previously the projects had to be processed year by year, while currently this is done once every four years, thus reducing the administrative burden for companies and migrants. After this regulatory change, the application of this regular migration route has been favored.
How does the procedure work?
The General Directorate of Migration Management is responsible for contacting the Spanish embassy in the country in question, which informs the local authorities of the job offers. If the country considers that it can satisfy this demand, it begins the process of selecting the workers, explains Inclusion. The interviews are carried out in the country of origin in a process that usually involves technicians from the Ministry of Inclusion, in addition to the corresponding companies or business associations of a specific sector.
What happens after four years? Do they have the possibility to regularize their situation?
Yes. If the foreign employee returns to his country during this period, he can request, after the first period of four years, a two-year residence and work permit in Spain, with which he can work as an employee or self-employed worker.
With which countries do you have this type of program?
In 2022, agreements were signed with countries such as Morocco, Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador. In 2023, it was extended to Senegal, Argentina and Uruguay, according to the Ministry of Inclusion.
How many people have been welcomed in recent years?
In 2022, 19,100 workers arrived in Spain through this route. In 2023, 17,200 people participated in the program, according to Migration data.
Why is the government defending it?
The government defends this route as “a paradigmatic example of regular, orderly and safe migration” because, in its opinion, it offers a “triple gain”. As the department headed by Elma Sáiz explains, the system allows “to find opportunities abroad without breaking ties with the country of origin, it helps companies find the qualified profiles they need; and it is a tool for cooperation and relations between countries at an international level.
What’s new after Sánchez’s travels?
The only new thing, at least compared to what Sánchez announced, is the launch of these programs in countries where they were not active until now: Mauritania and Gambia. She also announced an agreement to start a new circular migration procedure with Senegal, a country with which she has already carried out this type of project.
Have there been any complaints about the conditions in which these temporary foreigners work?
Although the selection process and the signing of the contract are supervised by the Ministry of Inclusion and the regulations impose a series of requirements to guarantee decent conditions and a minimum wage, in some circular migration programs complaints have been filed by contract workers, related to the lack of clear information at the source on working conditions, wages received or abuses by some employers who take advantage of the additional vulnerability of these people.
In early 2022, for example, some employees transferred from Honduras to pick strawberries in Huelva complained about the alleged lack of clear information received in their home country. Later, this media outlet documented that several day laborers decided to leave and abandon the program. Also in the same Andalusian province, seasonal strawberry growers brought from Morocco have repeatedly denounced the working conditions they found upon arrival, as well as the treatment they received. Several employees from the Alawite kingdom reported sexual abuse in 2018.
At the work level, the details of the working and accommodation conditions depend on the participating companies, the same sources explain. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Migration, has the mission of “verifying that all these accommodations” comply with a series of recommendations included in the decree that regulates the hiring program at the origin.
The Ministry has always defended that these cases are specific and, in general, the participants finish their work activity satisfied and usually start again the following seasons. They recall that all the fundamental working conditions are regulated in the regulations that govern these programs and that, if they are not respected, it is up to the Labor Inspectorate to control them. Unions such as the UGT and the workers’ commissions also control compliance with the rules.
