Crossing the Sahara to reach Libya for the purpose of onward migration across the Mediterranean to Italy is what in Gambia is called “The Back Way”. The aim of this study is to examine the ambitions and reasons behind a migratory project from The Gambia to Europe. By identifying the key constituents of a migration culture, I can get a broader insight into why the celebration of migration is evident, and how the ‘story of Europe’ is shaped. I have interviewed Gambians who are geographically in different places and who all find themselves in different life trajectories, most of them connected to migration. My conversations about migration, “The Back Way” and Europe stretches from interviews with repatriates, aspiring migrants and non-migrants. I have also interviewed Gambians in the Diaspora. In this study, I found a strong societal expectation and hope towards both migration and the diaspora which in return caused certain diasporic behavior that painted a misleading picture of Europe. I also found a strong hope and resilient aspirations in terms of social status and recognition believed to be attained easier as a migrant coming back from Europe.

Spain has an intricate relationship with their previous colonies. Relationships built up through centuries of intermingling have resulted in favourable integration trajectories for migrants from previous colonies in comparison with migrants from other countries. First through explicit favourable legislation, however this changed when Spain entered the European Union, meaning that the legislation had to be in line with the idea of controlled migration followed by the European Union. However, through the culturization, laborization and the criminalization of migration, it could be argued that migrants from previous colonies are still more favoured in comparison with migrants from different regions, exemplified by riots fueled by racism against labour migrants from North Africa in El Ejido in 2000. Besides the relationship with their previous colonies, Spain also has a long history with Northern Africa in which Maurophobia has played a significant role. This comparative case study compares the integration trajectory of two different migrant groups from both Latin America and Africa within Spain, more specifically into the local context of La Coruña. Even though Spain, and in the broader perspective the EU, are the authorities which create the legislation regarding migration and integration, the local authorities are the ones responsible for the implementation of these legislations. This study aims to demonstrate the importance of the analysis of integration in the local context as these could vastly differ from place to place, even within the borders of a nation-state. This case study compares the integration trajectory of Senegalese and Peruvian migrants within the context of La Coruña regarding access to the welfare state and the labour market.