Spain today started sending back to Senegal some of nearly 9,000 Africans whose arrival by boat in the Canary Islands this year has led to a diplomatic drive by Madrid to close the door on illegal immigration.
After talks in Dakar with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, Spain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Bernardino Leon said 100 migrants from Senegal were being flown home today.
They represent the first batch of more than 600 who would be repatriated in the coming days.
"Even though we don't have a (repatriation) agreement with Senegal, these repatriations have started today," Mr Leon told reporters. In exchange, Spain was willing to help Senegal with farming and infrastructure projects aimed at creating jobs and persuading young people to stay in their country.
Mr Leon is spearheading a Spanish diplomatic offensive aimed at halting an exodus of thousands of illegal migrants who are leaving West Africa crowded into open boats in a bid to reach Europe via the Canaries in search of work and a better life.
Hundreds are believed to drown on the perilous journey which takes them over more than 1,000 km (600 miles) of open sea from the long coasts of Mauritania and Senegal to the Canaries, Spanish territory from where they hope to gain entry to Europe.
The wave of migration has become one of Spain's hottest political issues and the conservative opposition says criminals are sneaking into Spain through leaky borders.
"That Senegal has accepted deportations would send a discouraging message (to migrants)," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in Madrid on the final day of a state of the nation debate in parliament, which has focused heavily on immigration.
He said Senegal had agreed to accept 623 deportees up to June 6, and the figure could increase to 800.
So far this year, about 8,850 illegal Sub-Saharan African migrants have come ashore in the Canaries, more than double the number for the whole of last year.