Burkina Faso–Spain relations

Burkina Faso–Spain relations
Map indicating locations of Burkina Faso and Spain

Burkina Faso
Spain

Burkina Faso–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Burkina Faso does not have an embassy in Spain, but its embassy in Paris, France, is accredited to Spain.[1] and consulates in Almería, Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia.[2] Spain has no embassy in Burkina Faso, but its embassy in Abidjan, Ivory Coast is accredited to Burkina Faso, and a consulate in Ouagadougou.[3]

History

Spain and Burkina Faso established diplomatic relations on 27 November 1964.[4]

The main interest of Spain in Burkina Faso (otherwise a country under strong French geopolitical influence) primarily lies on migration issues, owing to the immigrants arrived to the mediterranean coast coming from Burkina.[5]

The Burkinabé government was a key actor in the multiparty negotiations to liberate a group of 3 Spanish development workers kidnapped in Mauritania in November 2010.[5]

The Government of Spain condemned alongside France's the September 2015 Burkinabé coup d'état that sought to overthrow transitional Burkinabé president Michel Kafando.[6]

In October 2020, the Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya communicated the Burkina Faso's president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré the Spanish commitment to the security, fight against terrorism and irregular migration and the promotion of economic and social development in the Sahel.[7]

In the wake of the killing of the Spanish journalists David Beriáin and Roberto Fraile in southeastern Burkina Faso in April 2021, the Spanish foreign minister demanded her Burkinabé counterpart that the Government of Burkina Faso "investigated" and "clarified" the murder.[8]

The Spanish Guardia Civil led the creation of the GAR-SI project (approved in June 2017),[9] in collaboration with the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, and the Portuguese National Republican Guard, training elite counter-terrorist units in Burkina Faso following the GAR model.[10] As of 2021, the Spanish armed forces also trained and advised Burkinabé forces in Ouagadougou as part of the EU mission in the Sahel.[11]

Cooperation

Burkina Faso has not traditionally been a country of cooperation for Spain, nor does it appear in the current Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation (2013–2016) as a country of association.[12]

Diplomatic missions

The Spanish Embassy in Abidjan deals, under a multiple accreditation regime, with bilateral relations with Burkina Faso. There is an honorary vice consulate of Spain in Ouagadougou.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ List of foreign embassies in Spain Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ "List of foreign consulates in Spain" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  3. ^ Ficha de Burkina Faso Office of Diplomatic Information. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Section: Spanish Representation Data.
  4. ^ a b Ficha de Burkina Faso Office of Diplomatic Information. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Section: Diplomatic relations.
  5. ^ a b Gonzalvo Navarro, Vicente (2018). "La desestabilización de Burkina Faso. El nuevo campo de batalla del Sahel" (PDF). Bie3: Boletín IEEE (11): 4–5. ISSN 2530-125X.
  6. ^ "Francia y España piden la "liberación inmediata" del presidente de Burkina Faso". Ecodiario. El Economista. 17 September 2015.
  7. ^ "España reafirma al presidente de Burkina Faso su compromiso con la seguridad del Sahel". Europa Press. 23 October 2020.
  8. ^ Alfonso, Miguel Ángel; Alonso, María Eugenia (29 April 2021). "Exteriores exige a Burkina Faso que "esclarezca" el asesinato de los periodistas españoles". El Correo.
  9. ^ Gonzalvo Navarro, Vicente (2019). "Perspectiva estratégica de la situacion en Burkina Faso: el apoyo internacional" (PDF). Revista Española de Relaciones Internacionales (10): 113. ISSN 1989-6565.
  10. ^ López, Xaquín (4 July 2021). "El terrorismo yihadista se enquista en Burkina Faso". El País.
  11. ^ Villarejo, Esteban (12 October 2021). "España ya entrena a tropas en Burkina Faso dentro de la misión del Sahel". ABC.
  12. ^ Ficha de Burkina Faso Office of Diplomatic Information. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Section: Cooperation.