El Ministerio de Migraciones aprueba la nueva Orden GECCO de contratación de personas extranjeras en origen y migración circular para el año 2025

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, through the State Secretariat for Migration, has approved the GECCO Order for the recruitment of foreign persons at origin and circular migration programs corresponding to the coming year 2025.

The GECCO Order, published last Friday in the Official State Gazette, improves the wording of 2024 and introduces changes such as the temporary modification of contracts, going from being by natural year to accounting for time by date of start and end of the same.

This recruitment may be carried out to fill seasonal or seasonal positions, through circular migration. As in the previous year, the order also provides for the possibility of collective management of residence and employment authorizations through stable migration.

The GECCO program contains the necessary rules for the hiring, with rights and guarantees, of thousands of migrants, many of them women, and is an international reference within the regular, orderly and safe migration promoted by the Government of Spain. In the last two years there have been about 40,000 people who have come to work temporarily in Spain, about 19,000 in 2023 and more than 20,000 throughout 2024.

The GECCO Order makes it possible to respond to the demands of the labour market with responsibility and foresight, guaranteeing the workforce in essential sectors, while offering job opportunities and training to people who come once they return to their places of origin. Therefore, as highlighted by the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, these circular migration programs “constitute a tool of mutual growth, which strengthens ties with our international partners, and promotes an orderly, regular and safe migration”.

One of the most outstanding programs is WAFIRA, which in January 2025 will conclude the first edition with an official visit to Morocco by Saiz itself. WAFIRA consists of training and training temporary women so that, on their return to Morocco, they can undertake and implement activities that generate economic growth. In the January visit, the different projects undertaken by the Moroccan women participating in the first edition of this successful program will be evaluated and analyzed.

On the other hand, the GECCO Order provides measures for the safety of workers, such as the renewal of contracts for the same companies and by the same people each year, in addition to containing the requirements of the accommodations that must be provided to seasonal workers and establishing criteria of flexibility when the season is extended or when the worker intends to concatenate several successive agricultural campaigns.

“Two generations ago we were the ones who migrated to surrounding countries to do work, often seasonal. This Order guarantees that those who come from outside are treated as deservedly as we demand for our workers in Spain,” explained Saiz.

In 2025, pilot projects will be launched in other countries of the African continent, such as Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal, as agreed by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during his visit last August.

Four-year authorisations with the possibility of extension

Participants in the program will be able to obtain a four-year multi-year authorization in which they will be able to work nine months per calendar year. Once the work benefit has been completed, its holders must return to their country immediately and prove their return in time and form, preferably collectively.To promote job stability, there is the possibility of extending work authorizations after the end of their four-year validity for equal periods, by means of a request from the employer, previously fulfilling a series of conditions.

To participate in the program, employers must ensure the provision of adequate accommodation to the worker who meets the conditions provided in the regulations in force, as well as the organization of their trips, the fulfillment of the contract and the working conditions. Workers are also required to meet a number of requirements, such as compliance with the return commitment or failure to perform work activities for companies or activities other than those for which they were authorized.