By Joan Faus
MADRID, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Spain opposes a push by some European Union countries to control migration by opening camps for asylum-seekers outside the bloc, calling instead to focus on curbing irregular migration at the source, its interior minister said.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Reuters external processing centres, such as Italy’s plan to detain migrants in Albania, were “no magic solution” as they posed significant legal challenges and could strain relationships with third countries.
Meanwhile, Spain’s strategy of working with transit nations before arrivals occur was proving effective, he said.
In contrast to many EU states tightening their immigration policies amid the rise of the far right, Spain’s leftist government has been an outlier by treating migration as an economic asset, promoting legal immigration pathways, while simultaneously reducing irregular migration.
Irregular arrivals to Spain fell 42% last year – to around 36,000 compared to Italy’s little-changed 66,000.
“I believe that our figures and migration policy overall doubtlessly … greatly strengthen Spain’s role in defining migratory policy within the European Union,” Grande-Marlaska said.
Denmark said last month that a majority of EU countries supported the processing of asylum requests “in safe third countries” to deter arrivals. The European Parliament is expected to restrict migration rules this year.
To bolster its strategy, Spain has increased its presence in West African nations Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia— deploying nearly 100 police officers and various surveillance assets.
Rights groups, however, have said Spain’s and the EU’s support to West African countries to prevent migrants from boarding precarious boats to Spain’s Canary Islands has led to abuses, notably in Mauritania where Spanish police were allegedly present during abusive detention of migrants, according to Human Rights Watch.
Grande-Marlaska said Spain had “not seen any illegal action or action against refugees’ fundamental rights” and said Spain was working on beefing up its teams in Mauritania and Senegal and delivering more drones and vehicles to local forces.
Migrant arrivals to the Canaries fell 62% last year from record-breaking 2024 levels, Spanish data shows.
(Reporting by Joan Faus, additional reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams)
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