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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 MADRID 000187 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, EUR/PGI, EUR/WE 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
PASS TO ACBLANK 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB SP KT
SUBJECT: NINTH ANNUAL TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS (TIP) REPORT FOR SPAIN 
 
REF: (A) SECSTATE 05577 (B) 08 SECSTATE 132759 
 
MADRID 00000187  001.2 OF 012 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Pursuant to REFTELS, the following is input from 
Embassy Madrid and CG Barcelona for the eighth annual 
Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.  Post will need to supply 
an update cable to incorporate additional legal and judicial 
statistics.  Embassy POC is Political Officer Hugh Clifton, Tel. 
(34) 91-587-2294, Fax. (34) 91-587-2391. 
 
Staff hours spent in preparation of this report are as follows: 
POLITICAL COUNSELOR - FE-OC: 5 HOURS 
POLITICAL OFFICER - FS-04: 65 HOURS 
POLITICAL SPECIALIST - LES-10: 30 HOURS 
 
//OVERVIEW// 
 
¶2. (SBU) Spain maintains an active set of political, legal and 
social mechanisms to combat trafficking in persons (TIP).  The 
Spanish government (GOS) places a high priority on fighting TIP 
and coordinates this fight with national and international law 
enforcement, regional and local governments, and non- 
governmental organizations (NGOs).  During the reporting period, 
Spain took continued measures to assist trafficking victims, 
take down trafficking networks, prosecute perpetrators, prevent 
future trafficking, and reduce the demand for commercial sex. 
Spain's efforts were highlighted by its signing in June of the 
Council of Europe's Convention to Fight Trafficking in Persons 
and the government's approval in December of an ambitious, three- 
year, 61-point plan to combat TIP for the purposes of sexual 
exploitation.  The GOS has strict rules on the books for Spanish 
nationals caught participating in international child sex 
tourism, and Spanish peacekeepers deployed abroad receive anti- 
TIP training through participation in multilateral efforts. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Spain remains both a transit and destination country 
for internationally trafficked persons, primarily women between 
the ages of 18 to 25 trafficked for prostitution.  Spain is 
generally not a country of origin for trafficking.  Statistical 
data and information on Spanish government efforts to combat TIP 
come from the Ministry of Interior, which includes the Spanish 
National Police (SNP) and the Civil Guard (GC), the Spanish 
national courts, and NGOs.  There are at least 50,000 people in 
Spain who are victims of TIP, according to the Spanish Network 
Against TIP -- a coalition of more than 20 diverse and active 
NGOs, hereafter referred as the Network -- and the GC reported 
in 2008 that 90 percent of TIP victims in Spain are European, 
followed by those from Africa and Asia.  Spanish law enforcement 
maintained an aggressive operational tempo against traffickers 
and participated in several European-wide operations, including 
ongoing efforts to shut down the Spanish portions of several 
transnational networks trafficking in and exploiting Romanian, 
Russian, Ukrainian and other Eastern European women. 
 
//STATISTICS AND DATA// 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The SNP once again furnished Post with a restricted 
internal report that provides detailed information on TIP 
enforcement trends, including TIP-related arrests and the number 
of trafficking victims identified during the reporting period. 
As of May 31, 2008, the SNP unit that covers TIP-related issues, 
the Immigration Networks and Falsified Documents Unit (UCRIF), 
had carried out 219 investigations into crimes of exploitation 
of immigrants in Spain and had arrested 315 people, which put 
them on track to surpass the number of TIP-related 
investigations and arrests conducted in 2007, according to 
Spanish press reports.  The GOS continues to distinguish between 
trafficking crimes and migrant smuggling, and government 
statistics and information clearly reflect this distinction.  As 
 
MADRID 00000187  002.2 OF 012 
 
 
in previous years, information on specific TIP-related 
investigations, convictions and sentencing was available through 
an on-line subscription to the Spanish affiliate of WESTLAW 
(www.westlaw.es).  The GOS continues to make progress in 
normalizing the compilation of its TIP-related judicial 
statistics, and our Ministry of Justice contacts have confirmed 
to us that by 2009 they hope to have a one-stop shop database 
that will greatly facilitate our access to this information. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Embassy officials at all levels remained engaged in 
the TIP process with the GOS to encourage action against human 
trafficking. 
 
-- The GOS responded and continued to vigorously investigate and 
prosecute all severe forms of trafficking identified in the 
country and convicted and sentenced the persons responsible for 
such acts. 
 
-- Spain continued its bilateral cooperation with source 
countries to improve cross border cooperation to prevent and 
combat human trafficking, and conducted a number of joint anti- 
TIP operations. 
 
-- The GOS continued to fully fund previously-funded victims' 
services NGOs and worked with these NGOs to ensure that 
trafficking victims are advised of and offered all available 
rights and benefits.  These NGOs receive funding at the federal 
level (from the Ministries of Equality and of Labor and Social 
Affairs), regional level (Madrid province) and city level 
(Madrid City).  The same occurs for anti-TIP NGOs based in 
Spain's other major cities and regions. 
 
-- Spain has a multi-disciplinary approach to fighting 
trafficking and includes NGOs and relevant agencies in each 
case.  In 2008 the GOS created a Ministry of Equality in part to 
oversee the final stages of the formulation of and the 
implementation of the government's long awaited anti-TIP plan. 
Spain's anti-TIP working group -- now under the day-to-day 
management of the Ministry of Equality, which reports to the 
Office of the First Vice President -- includes the Ministries of 
Interior, Justice, Labor, and Foreign Affairs.  This group 
reached out to NGOs during the drafting process of the national 
action plan and solicited comments and advice on early drafts. 
The National Plan was officially approved in December 2008 and 
came in to force in January 2009. 
 
-- We have no information on any Spanish military officials 
deployed abroad engaging in or facilitating forms of 
trafficking, or exploiting victims of such trafficking.  On 
February 6, 2009, the GOS approved a royal decree with a new 
ethics code for the Spanish Armed Forces, which among other 
things, obliges the military to protect the defenseless, such as 
women and children, from prostitution or sexual violence.  We 
likewise have no indication of Spanish public officials 
participating in or facilitating trafficking. 
 
//SPAIN'S TIP SITUATION// 
 
¶6. (SBU) Checklist 23 A.  Statistical data and information on 
Spanish government efforts to combat TIP come from the Ministry 
of Interior -- which includes the Spanish National Police (SNP) 
and the Civil Guard (GC), the Ministry of Justice, the Spanish 
national courts, and NGOs.  There are at least 50,000 people in 
Spain who are victims of TIP, according to the Spanish Network 
Against TIP -- a coalition of more than 20 diverse and active 
NGOs -- and the GC reported in 2008 that 90 percent of TIP 
victims in Spain are European, followed by those from Africa and 
Asia.  As in previous years, information on specific TIP-related 
 
MADRID 00000187  003.2 OF 012 
 
 
investigations, convictions and sentencing was available through 
an on-line subscription to the Spanish affiliate of WESTLAW 
(www.westlaw.es).  The GOS continues to make progress in 
normalizing the compilation of its TIP-related judicial 
statistics, and our Ministry of Justice contacts have confirmed 
to us that by 2009 they hope to have a one-stop shop database 
that will greatly facilitate our access and confidence in this 
information. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Checklist 23 B - D.  Spain continues to be both a 
destination and transit country for trafficked persons for the 
purposes of sexual exploitation, and to a lesser degree, forced 
labor in the domestic agriculture section.  Spain is generally 
not a country of origin for trafficking.  Trafficking in women 
and girls is mostly for sexual exploitation and prostitution. 
Available data over the past year from Spanish law enforcement 
and NGOs indicates that trafficked women were usually 18 to 25 
years of age, but some girls were as young as 16.  Women were 
trafficked primarily from Eastern Europe (Romania, Russia, and 
Ukraine), Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, 
Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela), and sub-Saharan Africa 
(Nigeria).  Asians, including Chinese, were trafficked to a much 
lesser degree and more often for labor rather than for sexual 
exploitation. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Checklist 23 E.  Proyecto Esperanza, one of the leading 
anti-TIP NGOs, reports that traffickers are most often groups of 
delinquents or organized crime groups and less often smaller 
groups of two to four people who are less organized and have 
fewer infrastructures at their disposal.  The Spanish chapter of 
Save The Children also highlights that there has been an 
increase in the number of instances of minors - especially from 
Romania - being trafficking into Spain and forced to beg in the 
streets for money.  In recent years, law enforcement authorities 
and NGOs have seen increasing incidents of victims being 
trafficked by individuals and smaller groups of traffickers. 
Methods used by traffickers to maintain control of their victims 
have included physical abuse, forced use of drugs, withholding 
of travel documents, and threats to the victim's family, 
although now traffickers also threaten the victims with 
informing their families about what they do if they do not pay 
what they "owe" them.  Traffickers also lured some victims from 
other regions by using violence, intimidation, coercion and 
deceit.  Other methods utilized include abuse of a position of 
authority or by taking advantage of a victim's needs or 
vulnerability.  Often, trafficked victims are lured by false 
promises of employment in service industries and agriculture, 
but then forced them into prostitution upon their arrival.  The 
media reported that criminal networks often lured their victims 
by using travel agencies and newspaper advertisements in their 
home countries that promised assured employment in Spain.  In 
the case of Romanian organized networks, women were typically 
forced into prostitution.  One continuing trend NGOs reported 
seeing again in 2008 is an increase in instances of traffickers 
allowing their victims to keep a portion of the money they 
earned through prostitution to dampen the victims' desire to 
escape the trafficking network. 
 
//SETTING THE SCENE FOR SPAIN'S ANTI-TIP EFFORTS// 
 
¶9. (SBU) CHECKLIST 24 A.  Spain acknowledges that it has a 
serious trafficking problem and government officials at the 
highest levels addressed the problem of trafficking during the 
reporting period and pledged to continue the anti-TIP fight. 
Spain maintains an active set of political, legal and social 
mechanisms to combat trafficking in persons (TIP) and 
coordinates this fight with national and international law 
enforcement, regional and local governments, and non- 
 
MADRID 00000187  004.2 OF 012 
 
 
governmental organizations (NGOs).  Spain has a multi- 
disciplinary approach to fighting trafficking and includes NGOs 
and relevant agencies in each case. 
 
¶10. (SBU) CHECKLIST 24 B.  The GOS in 2008 created a Ministry of 
Equality in part to oversee the final stages of the formulation 
of and the implementation of the government's long awaited anti- 
TIP plan.  Spain's anti-TIP working group -- now under the day- 
to-day management of the Ministry of Equality, which reports to 
the Office of the First Vice President -- includes the 
Ministries of Interior, Justice, Labor, and Foreign Affairs. 
The Ministry of Interior continues to coordinate day-to-day law 
enforcement efforts to combat trafficking and the SNP has a 
special unit, the Immigration Networks and Falsified Documents 
Unit (UCRIF), which covers TIP-related issues.  The UCRIF 
intelligence unit analyzes statistical data and trends, while 
coordinating efforts and sharing data with the GC and Interpol. 
Regional offices of the national police conduct quarterly 
reviews to set goals for combating trafficking and to assess 
progress in meeting these goals from the previous quarter.  In 
its capacity as the rotating chair of the Council of Europe 
(COE), Spain - represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
the Ministry of Equality, the Spanish Diplomatic School - also 
organized a seminar in Madrid during December 2-3, 2008 on the 
COE's Convention to Fight Trafficking in Persons.  Civil society 
representatives, Spanish government authorities, and COE 
representatives attended. 
 
¶11. (SBU) CHECKLIST 24 C-D.  While funding could always be 
increased, Spain treats TIP efforts as a priority and will fund 
its three-year national anti-TIP action plan with 44 million 
euros (roughly $57 million dollars).  We have no evidence that 
there is any TIP-related corruption in Spain's government and 
the GOS does not lack the resources to aid victims.  GOS efforts 
over the past year to finalize and enact its national action 
plan against TIP have allowed it to systematically monitor its 
anti-trafficking efforts on all fronts and has shared its 
assessments with relevant NGOs in Spain, and also international 
organizations such as the OSCE. 
 
//INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF TRAFFICKERS// 
 
¶12. (SBU) Checklist 25 A.  Spain has specific laws to prohibit 
trafficking in persons and other activities related to sexual 
and labor exploitation.  These laws are applied in practice and 
are adequate to cover the full scope of trafficking offenses. 
New legislation implemented since 2007 includes a law to allow 
Spanish Judges and Prosecutors to pursue suspected TIP mafias 
outside Spanish borders.  Previously, these Spanish officials 
did not have extra-territorial jurisdiction to follow these 
cases, but the new law modified the Organic Law of Judicial 
Power and incorporated "trafficking in persons and illegal 
immigration" into the category of crimes of "universal 
jurisdiction," along with terrorism, genocide, prostitution, and 
drug trafficking.  Additionally, the Spanish Congress approved 
in late 2007 a change of the Spanish Penal Code that allows the 
pursuit of ships believed to be transporting trafficked persons 
or illegal immigrants, even if they are not in Spanish waters, 
and even if the ship's final destination is another EU country. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Continue Checklist 25 A.  Article 318 of Spain's 
criminal and penal code is the main piece of legislation that 
penalizes trafficking in persons.  In the legislation, 
trafficking in human beings and trafficking in children are 
distinct crimes.  Different paragraphs in Spain's Criminal Code 
penalize activities related to trafficking as it is defined in 
the Palermo Protocol.  This includes, for both adults and 
children, crimes of sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, and 
 
MADRID 00000187  005.2 OF 012 
 
 
slavery or practices similar to slavery, and domestic 
servitude.  Spain also has legal provisions addressing the 
protection and assistance of victims, protection and assistance 
of witnesses, special measures for protection and assistance to 
children, residence permits for victims of trafficking, and 
compensation of victims.  There are several other penal codes 
related to trafficking in persons, including: Article 312, 
Crimes Against the Rights of Foreigners; Article 313, Crimes 
Involving Forced Labor; and the "Ley Organica" (Organic Law for 
measures related to citizen security, domestic violence and the 
social integration of the foreigner). 
 
¶14. (SBU) Continue Checklist 25 A.  Prostitution and the 
procurement of prostitutes are decriminalized in Spain, but 
forcing others into prostitution and organizing prostitution 
rings are crimes.  Furthermore, it is illegal for anyone to 
profit from the prostitution of another.  Spanish law makes it 
illegal for pimps or brothels to receive money from the 
prostitute's activities, even if the prostitute consents. 
Spanish law prohibits the involvement of minors (under the 
age of 18) in prostitution.  The activities of the prostitute 
are not criminalized, but the activities of the brothel 
owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers are criminalized. 
Spain continues to review its laws regarding prostitution.  The 
central Spanish government remains the principal authority for 
anti-trafficking enforcement while leaving the legal status of 
prostitution to Spain's 17 regional governments. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Checklist 25 B.  Spanish criminal law was amended in 
September 2003 to adapt Spanish legislation to that of other 
European Union countries.  This amendment raised the penalty for 
the crime of trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation to a 
minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of ten (previous 
sentencing guidelines ran from 2-4 years behind bars). 
Sentencing guidelines in convictions for encouraging, favoring, 
or facilitating the trafficking of persons from, in transit, or 
destined for Spain for the purpose of sexual exploitation are 
subject to imprisonment of 5 to 10 years, with an increase to 12 
to 15 years if trafficking is carried out with violence, 
intimidation, deceit or abuse of the victim.  Spanish courts at 
all levels use a combination of available penal codes in 
prosecuting crimes related to trafficking in persons to ensure a 
conviction because of a frequent lack of testimony from victims. 
 
¶16. (SBU)  Article one (13) of the above mentioned law modifies 
Article 318 bis. of the Penal Code: 
 
-- Four to eight years in prison for a person who, directly or 
indirectly, promotes or facilitates the illegal trafficking of 
people or illegal immigration from, in transit within, or with a 
destination of, Spain. 
 
-- If the human trafficking is for sexual exploitation, the 
prison sentences range from five to ten years. 
 
-- If the person committing the crime uses his/her position of 
authority to facilitate the trafficking, or if he/she is a 
public servant, the penalty will be 6-12 years. 
 
-- In the event the victim of the crime is under age or has 
his/her life put in danger, or if the criminal belongs to an 
organized crime or trafficking ring, then the sentences applied 
will be on the higher scale. 
 
¶17. (SBU)   While Article 318 has been designed as the primary 
statute in TIP cases, the Network highlights that prosecutors in 
many instances charge TIP defendants with violation of Article 
188 of the Penal Code instead.  Article 188 covers forced 
 
MADRID 00000187  006.2 OF 012 
 
 
prostitution and profiting from the prostitution of another 
person and carries a lesser penalty of two to four years. 
 
¶18. (SBU)  Spanish judges often combine a trafficking sentence 
with a sentence for crimes involving theft, illegal detention, 
forgery of documents, or extortion.  When a defendant is 
convicted of an additional crime two separate sentences must be 
served.  Once sentenced, prisoners generally serve 75 percent of 
their sentence before being eligible for parole.  A Spanish 
Supreme Court judge ruled in 2006 that each request for a 
reduction in sentence for good behavior must be applied to each 
sentence individually, meaning it is now much more difficult for 
criminals prosecuted on multiple counts related to trafficking 
to see parole. 
 
¶19. (SBU) Checklist 25 C.  Article 313 and the Organic Law 
11/2003 cover forced labor.  The sentencing guidelines are four 
to eight years in prison for the person who, directly or 
indirectly, promotes or facilitates human trafficking from, in 
transit within, or to Spain.  While the just approved National 
Integral Plan against TIP focuses primarily on sexual 
exploitation, there will be some modifications to the laws 
penalizing forced labor.  Spanish officials tell us that they 
have begun work on a second national action plan that 
specifically targets trafficking for the purposes of forced 
labor. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Checklist 25 D.  The penalty for rape is 6 to 12 years 
in prison, increasing to a possible 15 years with aggravating 
circumstances.  The penalty for forcible sexual assault is 1 to 
4 years in prison, 4 to 10 years with aggravating 
circumstances.  Prescribed penalties for encouraging, favoring, 
or facilitating the trafficking of persons from, in transit 
within, or to Spain for the purpose of sexual exploitation or 
forced labor now stand at 5 to 10 years, with a possible 12 to 
15 years with aggravating circumstances. 
 
¶21. (SBU)  The GOS has ratified all of the mentioned 
instruments, and the dates of ratification are: 
 
-- ILO Convention 182 (April 2, 2001) 
-- ILO Convention 29 (August 29, 1932) 
-- ILO Convention 105 (November 6, 1967) 
-- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child (December 18, 2001) 
-- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children (March 1, 2002) 
 
In June of 2008, Spain signed the Council of Europe's Convention 
to Fight Trafficking in Persons, which entered into force in 
February of that year.  Both houses of the Spanish Parliament 
have approved of the Convention and Spain intends to deposit its 
ratification with the COE in early 2009, while Spain still holds 
the COE rotating Presidency. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Checklist 25 E.  The Embassy engaged with relevant 
Spanish authorities to reinforce the importance of law 
enforcement and judicial statistics.  Our contacts in the 
Spanish police, Civil Guard, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry 
of Justice facilitated our access to prosecution data. 
Additional information on specific TIP-related investigations, 
convictions and sentencing in Spain was available on-line 
through a subscription service to the Spanish affiliate of 
WESTLAW (www.westlaw.es).  The Spanish government continues to 
make commendable progress in normalizing the compilation of its 
TIP-related judicial statistics, and our National Court contacts 
have reconfirmed that by 2009 they aim to have a one-stop shop 
database for all TIP-related law enforcement and judicial 
 
MADRID 00000187  007.2 OF 012 
 
 
statistics.  In the meantime, the Special Prosecutor for TIP 
crimes has informed the Embassy that by mid-year his office 
should have information on TIP judicial statistics. Spanish 
authorities track TIP cases separately from illegal immigration 
and false documentation.  Under Spanish labor laws, the 
government treats as traffickers and criminally prosecutes 
employers who confiscate workers' passports and use physical or 
sexual abuse to keep workers in a state of service.  Traffickers 
serve an average of 75 percent of their sentence before being 
eligible for parole, but Spanish penal law limits the number of 
traffickers who receive early parole. 
 
¶23. (SBU) Checklist 25 F.  The GOS provides specialized anti- 
trafficking training to law enforcement agencies.  Training is 
provided to new recruits at the SNP academy in Avila.  NGOs 
continue to remain active in helping law enforcement agencies 
devise specialized training curriculum for officers who will be 
working trafficking cases.  Officials from Proyecto Esperanza 
and other NGOs participated throughout the reporting period, at 
the invitation of the national police, in a "Specialized Course 
on Trafficking in Persons Investigations."  NGOs tell us the SNP 
are increasingly sensitized to and trained for the special 
demands of TIP investigations. 
 
¶24. (SBU) Checklist 25 G.  The GOS has bilateral accords with 
several countries that are major sources of TIP victims in 
Spain, and the GOS regularly cooperates in the investigation and 
prosecution of trafficking cases. 
 
¶25. (SBU) Checklist 25 H-J.  The GOS can extradite persons 
charged with trafficking, including its own nationals, but there 
have been no instances during the reporting period of the GOS 
extraditing Spanish nationals charged with TIP offenses.  The 
GOS also has bilateral agreements with TIP source countries to 
extradite persons who are charged with trafficking.  Spanish 
officials from the President on down 
are committed to fighting TIP, and we have no evidence of any 
Spanish government involvement in or tolerance of human 
trafficking. 
 
¶26. (SBU) Checklist 25 K.  Prostitution and the procurement of 
prostitutes are decriminalized in Spain, but forcing others into 
prostitution and organizing prostitution rings are crimes. 
Furthermore, it is illegal for anyone to profit from the 
prostitution of another.  Spanish law makes it illegal for pimps 
or brothels to receive money from the prostitute's activities, 
even if the prostitute consents.  Spanish law prohibits the 
involvement of minors (under the 
age of 18) in prostitution.  The activities of the prostitute 
are not criminalized, but the activities of the brothel 
owner/operator, clients, pimps, and enforcers are criminalized. 
Spain continues to review its laws regarding prostitution.  The 
central Spanish government remains the principal authority for 
anti-trafficking enforcement while leaving the legal status of 
prostitution to Spain's 17 regional governments. 
 
¶27. (SBU) Checklist 25 L-M.  Embassy Madrid has reminded the GOS 
on several occasions of the new requirements of the 2005 TVRPA 
for countries that contribute troops to international 
peacekeeping efforts.  Our Spanish military contacts tell us 
that as part of their pre-deployment training, Spanish 
government troops receive TIP awareness training.  We have no 
information of any Spanish nationals deployed abroad engaging in 
or facilitating severe forms of trafficking.  Press 
reports suggest that some Spanish nationals travel abroad on 
child sex tourism, but we do not have reliable numbers.  Spain's 
child sexual abuse laws do have extraterritorial coverage and 
thus Spanish nationals could be prosecuted and convicted for 
 
MADRID 00000187  008.2 OF 012 
 
 
acts committed in known child sex tourism destinations.  In 
2006, Spain implemented its second three-year Action Plan 
against Child Sexual Exploitation, reaffirming this. 
 
//PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS// 
 
¶28. (SBU) Checklist 26 A.  In 2008, the Spanish Government 
increased its funding and support of NGOs that provided 
assistance to foreign trafficking victims.  Regional and local 
governments also provided victim assistance through NGOs. 
Medical attention, including emergency care, is provided through 
the national health care system.  The GOS sends victims to NGOs, 
which provide temporary shelter and access to legal, medical, 
and psychological services.  The victims are provided legal 
protection and temporary or permanent residency status if they 
cooperate with the GOS in going after the traffickers. 
 
¶29. (SBU) Checklist 25 B-C.  Spain has several victim care 
facilities which are accessible to trafficking victims, and most 
are run under the auspices of a network of anti-TIP NGOs with 
funding provided by the government and private sources.  As 
Spanish nationals are rarely if ever trafficking victims, the 
vast majority of the assistance is provided to foreign 
trafficking victims.  Article 59 of Spain's immigration law 
paved the way for recognizing the rights of those victims who 
have reported a crime and have collaborated effectively with 
police and legal authorities in the breaking up of TIP 
networks.  The law establishes a legal mechanism for victims of 
trafficking to either obtain work and residence permits to 
remain in Spain, as well as welfare benefits or to obtain 
funding to return to their countries of origin.  The government 
funds NGOs to provide shelter, counseling, legal and 
psychological assistance, job training, placement and 
reinsertion services, and assistance in obtaining visas that are 
available for those who testify against traffickers.  NGOs 
submit annual grant proposals to the government to furnish 
services to victims.  Proyecto Esperanza assisted 73 women in 
their shelters this year; 41 of whom were first placed there in 
2008, while the remainder had been placed there in 2007.  Of the 
73, 31 were from Eastern Europe, 29 were from Latin America and 
13 were from Africa.  Twenty-nine victims were ages 26-30, 15 
were 22-25 years old, 13 were older than age 30, 10 were between 
18 and 21, four victims' ages were unknown and two were minors. 
Among the 41 new cases, 17 were referred to Proyecto Esperanza 
by NGOs, 11 by Spanish security forces, and seven by public 
institutions such as hospitals.  The remainder were referred by 
diverse sources, such as religious orders, foreign consulates, 
etc. 
 
¶30. (SBU) Checklist 25 D-E.  The GOS provides residence permits 
to those victims who provide information essential to the 
investigation and prosecution of traffickers.  The law permits 
trafficking victims to remain in the country if they agree to 
testify against the perpetrators.  Spain has a witness- 
protection law that allows a witness to remain anonymous.  After 
legal proceedings conclude, victims are given the option of 
remaining in the country or returning to their countries of 
origin.  Victims are encouraged to help police investigate 
trafficking cases and to testify against traffickers.  In 2007, 
the fixed period of time for victims to recover and reflect, in 
a safe environment, before being required to decide whether to 
cooperate with police investigation and prosecution of their 
traffickers was set at 30 days. 
 
¶31. (SBU) Checklist 25 F-H.  Spain's new plan to combat TIP 
formally establishes the referral of TIP victims to NGOs, 
although in practice, victims were already being referred 
directly by Spanish law enforcement to anti-TIP NGOs, who are 
 
MADRID 00000187  009.2 OF 012 
 
 
then able to provide both short- and long-term care.  According 
to the Network, in 2008, five of the leading NGOs attended to 
1,002 victims, who ranged in age from 17 to 35 years old and 
were primarily women from Brazil, Romania, and Nigeria.  Spanish 
authorities tell us they are working on a mechanism for 
screening for trafficking victims among persons involved in the 
decriminalized commercial sex trade. 
 
¶32. (SBU) Checklist 25 I.  The GOS makes every effort to respect 
the rights of TIP victims, and TIP and prostitution victims are 
not considered criminals and do not go to jail.  They are sent 
to NGOs that ensure proper care is provided to them.  In the 
past, at least some TIP victims who refused to testify against 
the perpetrators were jailed and deported as illegal aliens, but 
our contacts tell us that is not routine.  If victims are in 
serious danger they may even be provided with a new identity in 
order to help ensure protection. 
 
¶33. (SBU) Checklist 25 J.  The GOS encourages victims to assist 
in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers and provides 
residence permits to those victims who provide information 
essential to the investigation and prosecution of traffickers. 
The law permits trafficking victims to remain in the country if 
they agree to testify against the perpetrators.  Spain has a 
witness-protection law that allows a witness to remain 
anonymous.  After legal proceedings conclude, victims are given 
the option of remaining in the country or returning to their 
countries of origin.  Victims are encouraged to help police 
investigate trafficking cases and to testify against 
traffickers.  In 2007, the fixed period of time for victims to 
recover and reflect, in a safe environment, before being 
required to decide whether to cooperate with police 
investigation and prosecution of their traffickers was set at 30 
days.  The government's violence education programs for female 
victims and an NGO partner on trafficking reported that over 60 
percent of the victims they assisted in 2008 pressed criminal 
charges. 
 
¶34. (SBU) Checklist 25 K-L.  The GOS continued to fund and 
encourage NGOs to provide specialized training for government 
officials in recognizing trafficking and providing assistance to 
trafficked victims.  During the reporting period, this training 
took place in Madrid, Barcelona, and Malaga, among other Spanish 
cities, and has been ongoing in recent years.  Training 
continues to be available for immigration officials and social 
service providers.  NGOs remained active in helping law 
enforcement agencies devise specialized training 
curriculum for officers who will be working trafficking cases. 
Proyecto Esperanza officials provided separate, specialized TIP 
training workshops and roundtables for the SNP, the GC, the Bar 
Association of Madrid, and others in 2008.  Spain is generally 
not a source country for trafficking, and our contacts in the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not aware of any Spanish 
nationals abroad who are either victims of trafficking or who 
have participated in or facilitated severe forms of 
trafficking.  If such cases do arise, the GOS tells us they 
would provide medical aid, shelter and financial help to its 
repatriated nationals. 
 
¶35. (SBU) Checklist 25 M.  The Spanish Network against 
Trafficking in Persons formed in 2006 to increase the 
effectiveness and efficiency of its work with trafficking 
victims.  The Network is currently made up of more than 20 NGOs 
and is committed to "prevent, identify, assist, protect and 
ensure the healing of trafficking victims in Spain."  In 
February 2009, it publicly presented its "Basic Guide to 
Identify and Protect Trafficking in Persons victims" to help 
identify TIP victims.  The Embassy maintains very close contacts 
 
MADRID 00000187  010.2 OF 012 
 
 
with Spain's anti-TIP network and two of its senior coordinators 
have participated in the Department's International Visitor's 
Program.  The Spanish government contracts with and subsidizes 
NGOs and other programs that provide shelter and vital services 
for trafficking victims and witnesses, to include protection, 
housing, and counseling.  Several NGOs operated shelters in 
Madrid and Barcelona, provided assistance with medical and legal 
services, and acted as liaison with law enforcement for victims 
who chose to testify against traffickers.  Some of these NGOs 
have a housing and reinsertion program for victims of 
trafficking and smuggling who wish to remain in Spain and will 
help women apply for residence visas.  These NGOs received many 
referrals directly from police.  The Catalonian regional and 
municipal government contracted with Caritas, other NGOs, and 
sometimes religious organizations for the same services. 
Spanish NGOs in Madrid receive funding at the federal level 
(Ministry of Labor and Social Services), regional level (Madrid 
province) and city level (Madrid City).  To use Proyecto 
Esperanza as an example, last year the regional government 
provided 364,000 euros (approximately USD 465,000), the national 
government provided over 60,000 euros (over USD 76,000) and the 
city government gave 77,000 euros (nearly USD 100,000).  All 
three figures are higher than the funding provided in 2007.  Our 
GOS contacts say that they are increasing funding for the 
current year and note that the National Action Plan calls for 
increases across the board in the support they will provide to 
anti-TIP NGOs. 
 
//PREVENTION// 
 
¶36. (SBU) Checklist 27 A.  In approving Spain's national action 
plan against TIP for the purposes of sexual exploitation, the 
Council of Ministers publicized the move as one designed to 
equate trafficking in persons with the violation of human 
rights.  Spanish press coverage responded by calling the 
plan "an important step in the campaign against trafficking in 
women."  Local governments, notably those in Spain's largest 
cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla continued efforts to 
discourage prostitution (please see paragraph 41 for a more 
detailed discussion of GOS efforts to reduce demand). 
 
¶37. (SBU) Checklist 27 B.  During the reporting period, the 
Spanish government continued to monitor immigration and 
emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking, and law 
enforcement agencies screened for potential trafficking victims 
at Spain's air and seaports, and along its border with France. 
An ongoing trend is the increasing frequency of individual 
traffickers deceiving their victims by establishing a 
relationship with them by pretending they were their 
boyfriends.  The trafficker and victim arrived in Spain legally 
and with legal passports, and once inside the country the 
trafficker would send his victim into a trafficking network. 
 
¶38. (SBU) Checklist 27 C.  Spain's inter-agency mechanism for 
coordination and communication is the anti-TIP working group, 
established in 2006 by Spanish First Vice President Maria Teresa 
Fernandez de la Vega.  Working-level officials in the new 
Ministry of Equality now oversee this group and are in frequent 
contact with the Embassy.  VP de la Vega tasked the ministries 
of Equality, Interior, Justice, Labor, Foreign Affairs, and 
Education to produce a comprehensive plan to combat trafficking 
in persons, which was made approved by the Council of Ministers 
on December 12, 2008.  Months earlier, the GOS shared early 
drafts with Eva Biaudet, the OSCE's special representative on 
TIP, and with relevant Spanish NGOs for review and comment. 
Most of the NGOs that are members of Spain's Network Against TIP 
reported continued good relations and cooperation with 
government ministries, with increased collaboration on victim 
 
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referral, although they would have liked to have had more of a 
say in the drafting of the GOS's national action plan. 
 
¶39. (SBU)  Continue Checklist D.  The 2009-2012 plan will 
receive an allocation of 44 million euros (approximately 57 
million dollars) and will dedicate over 200 new police and Civil 
Guards to its enforcement.  It is ambitious and provides for a 
broad policy framework to fight trafficking in persons for 
sexual exploitation with a dual-focus on victim protection and 
perpetrator prosecution.  The Embassy believes it will 
strengthen the fight against trafficking organizations involved 
in sexual exploitation and increase assistance for trafficking 
victims. 
Specifically, the plan establishes: 
 
Q  A reflection period of 30 days for TIP victims to decide 
whether or not they will cooperate with the GOS.  In the 
meantime they will benefit from housing, protection, medical and 
psychological assistance, free legal assistance, interpretation 
services, and some financial assistance. 
Q   "Cautionary" confiscation of traffickers' assets at the 
beginning of the process, although only a condemnatory sentence 
would make the seizure firm. 
Q  Creation of a fund with the assets confiscated to the mafias 
to attend victims and to strengthen police actions. 
Q  Creation of units to attend victims, as well as the creation 
of shelter centers with integral attention programs. 
Q  Use of biometric identifiers in visas and residency permits 
Q  A new control mechanism in ports, airports, and other 
transportation means to identify possible cases of trafficking. 
Q  Research about the consequences of trafficking activities on 
their victims, and ways to help them. 
Q  Information campaigns addressed to travel agencies, and 
organizers of events involving large crowds. 
Q  Creation of a Forum Against Trafficking made of public 
institutions, NGOs, and others 
Q  Creation of an inter-ministerial Coordinating Group to follow 
up the Plan (Ministries of Equality, Foreign Affairs, Justice, 
Interior, Education, Social) which was established in January 
¶2009. 
 
¶40. (SBU) Checklist 27 E.  Major Spanish cities are turning more 
of their focus towards reducing demand for commercial sex acts. 
Spain's largest cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla 
continued efforts to discourage the clients of prostitution. 
The local governments in Barcelona and Sevilla have enacted 
plans in recent years with the goal of eliminating street 
prostitution by fining sex clients up to USD 5,000 and 
prosecuting repeat offenders.  The Madrid city government 
continued to focus efforts on demand reduction by targeting 
potential sex solicitor males with posters claiming, "Because 
YOU pay, prostitution exists" and instructing, "Do not 
contribute to the perpetuation of 21st-century slavery!"  Other 
anti-prostitution efforts in major Spanish cities during the 
reporting period included advertising campaigns warning of its 
dangers, restrictions on prostitution near schools, and police 
actions such as road closings to deter clients from seeking 
prostitutes, as well as installing video cameras in some of the 
most visited areas. 
 
¶41. (SBU) Checklist 27 F.  The Spanish government has strict 
rules on the books for Spanish nationals caught participating in 
international child sex tourism.  Press reports suggest that 
some Spanish nationals have traveled abroad on child sex 
tourism, but Post does not have reliable numbers.  Spain's child 
sexual abuse laws do have extraterritorial coverage and thus 
Spanish nationals could be prosecuted and convicted for acts 
committed in known child sex tourism destinations.  Under the 
 
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motto "There Are No Excuses," the Spanish government warned 
potential child sex tourists that they may feel a sensation of 
legal immunity when they are abroad in places such as Asia or 
Latin America, but that Spanish law would still apply to them 
upon their return.  Embassy Madrid's Legal Attache and Consular 
Section receive information on pedophiles and sexual predators 
from various sources which is subsequently included in the 
Consular Lookout and Support System. 
 
¶42. (SBU) Checklist 27 G.  We have no information on any Spanish 
military officials deployed abroad engaging in or facilitating 
forms of trafficking, or exploiting victims of such 
trafficking.  On February 6, 2009, the GOS approved a royal 
decree with a new ethics code for the Spanish Armed Forces, 
which among other things, obliges the military to protect the 
defenseless, such as women and children, from prostitution or 
sexual violence. 
 
CHACON 
 
AGUIRRE