Due to the limited access to Spanish archives containing colonial documents and the inherent obstacles blocking the way, it is true to say that Spanish emigration on the North West coast of Africa has been overlooked in the context of the Spanish bibliography dealing with Spain’s colonial presence in the region. This article aims to draw attention to this matter by analysing Spanish emigration from three specific angles: Ifni, the Western Sahara and the city of Nouadhibou. The piece asserts throughout that there are two dimensions to Spanish emigration: policies and economics. In emigration policy, both the Sahara and the former Port Étienne played a determining role; the first as a place for the deportation of those dissenting from the regime in power (the Second Spanish Republic and/or Franco’s dictatorship) and the present-day Nouadhibou as a refuge for all those fleeing the repression of Franco’s regime. Nevertheless, economic emigration held greater importance, quantitatively and qualitatively, due to the multiplying effect generated by Spanish investment in the Sahara and Mauritania along with the expenditure of Spain’s military administration in the territory. In Nouadhibou the presence of inhabitants from the Canary Islands was the overwhelming majority in comparison to the other Spanish natives in the Peninsula, while in other territories the circumstances were very much the opposite.
Colonization, emigration, Ifni, Western Sahara, Mauritania.