[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

SPAIN (Tier 1) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of Spain fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Spain remained on Tier 1.  These efforts included investigating and prosecuting more suspected traffickers, while courts convicted more traffickers and continued to issue adequate prison terms.  Judges also continued to award significant restitution amounts to most survivors following convictions of traffickers.  The government identified more victims, and police developed another in-depth trafficking training course.  The government continued delivering comprehensive training to a variety of officials, and law enforcement continued participating in extensive international investigations and partnerships, which resulted in the identification of victims and arrests of suspects.  Although the government meets the minimum standards, gaps remained in victim identification, and the government did not report identifying any victims among the asylum-seeker population, despite the plausibility of there being such victims.  The government continued to lack adequate mechanisms for identifying potential trafficking victims among the asylum-seeker and undocumented migrant populations.  Government-funded NGOs assisted fewer victims, and the government did not provide compensation to any victims, as there was no fund from which to do so.

Prioritized Recommendations

Increase proactive victim identification, especially among Spanish citizens and vulnerable populations such as children, undocumented migrants, asylum-seekers, and workers in industries and agricultural regions with high incidences of labor exploitation. 

Improve uniform implementation of national victim identification and referral protocols and systematic training for front-line officials on proactive victim identification. 

Allow formal victim identification by and referral from entities other than law enforcement, including by labor inspectors, asylum case workers, health care professionals, social workers, and NGOs. 

Expand victim service centers to all autonomous communities. 

Increase investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes. 

Establish a state compensation fund for trafficking victims. 

Increase worker protections by implementing strong regulation and oversight of recruitment companies upon which effective law enforcement measures are consistently enforced. 

Continue to increase witness protection resources available to victims and witnesses, including increasing safety and security measures and consider measures to protect expert witness identities. 

Increase resources, including personnel, to the office of the national rapporteur and consider making it independent. 

Increase security of unaccompanied children in immigration detention centers or government shelters to protect from recruitment by traffickers. 

Systematically train prosecutors and judges on human trafficking and a victim-centered approach to law enforcement. 

Increase survivor engagement, including by establishing accessible mechanisms for receiving and providing compensation for survivor input when forming policies, programs, and trainings. 

Improve coordination with an effective multidisciplinary response between government and government-funded NGOs to combat trafficking. 

Increase training for and efforts to pursue financial crime investigations in tandem with human trafficking cases.