Spain’s Migration Policies: Building Bridges or Burning Them?

In the absence of a joint migration management system, Spain has sought to protect its external borders by building relations with African countries through different foreign policy frameworks. In a context where the European Union is tightening its external borders, we ask what the central axis structuring Spanish migration policies toward Africa is. The most recent foreign policy framework, the Spain-Africa Strategy 2025–2028, has been presented as a bridge between Europe and Africa, wanting to consolidate Spain as the interlocutor between both continents and as a reliable partner for African countries. But to what extent does it pursue a differentiated approach? Is it an effective policy instrument to establish equal partnerships? These are some of the questions that have been addressed through a qualitative document analysis. Aiming to contribute to the literature on Spain’s migration policies from a critical security studies perspective, we conclude that the Spain-Africa Strategy is not context-free and, as such, is dependent on larger foreign policy structures that are built around a security-development nexus, hence hindering the achievement of equal partnerships.