The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers approved yesterday the program ‘Holidays in Peace 2023’ which provides for the arrival in Spain of about 2,800 minors of Saharawi origin.
The program contemplates the instructions to authorize the temporary residence of the minors who will stay in our country for a period of three months, in order to enjoy a vacation period, after which they will return to their place of origin.
Stay visas will also be granted to the monitors accompanying the minors during their stay in Spain. All temporary residence and stay visas will be processed by the Spanish Consulate General in Algiers.
The minors will be hosted by families belonging to entities operating in the different autonomous communities. These entities must previously request a report from the Subdelegation or Delegation of the Government prior to the displacement of each minor, as well as a report from the autonomous service competent for the protection of minors.
This program, launched in the mid-1980s, has only been interrupted for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was resumed in 2022. The Ministries of Inclusion, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Territorial Policy and the different autonomous communities where the minors will stay are collaborating to develop ‘Holidays in Peace 2023’.
“This program is part of Spain’s commitment of solidarity with the population of the Saharawi refugee camps, being the Spanish Cooperation the first international contributor of humanitarian aid to this population”, according to the Government.
