External action as innovation in Spain’s immigration policy

The design of Spain’s immigration policy has been transformed since the year 2000; the concepts of change and innovation in policy are applied to examine the transformations that have happened. These transformations are explained and systematised as a reinforcing of the function of immigration prevention in parallel with an increase in dependency between functions, instruments and actors; some of the factors that define the context of innovation are identified; and the innovation is illustrated with an analysis, firstly, of the “Africa Plan”, which was conceived as an immigration prevention plan, and secondly, of the improvements that have been introduced into the Spanish system of repatriation.