President Rafael Correa has been in Spain and Italy this week, the two top destinations in Europe for Ecuadorians who have moved away over the past 15 years. Correa also visited Germany, where he toured renewable energy plants, universities and biotech centres.

In a meeting in Milán with an auditorium full of Ecuadorian migrants to Italy, he spoke first to thank them for giving him 77 percent of their votes in the most recent presidential election.

Then, he talked about the Ecuadorians new dream: a return to their homeland.

“Many of those forced to leave the country after the bank crisis of 1999 have already returned. There is a lot of hope among Ecuadorians, and thousands have been able to come home.”

During the Europe tour, Ecuador’s labour minister met with Spain’s to sign agreements that would allow workers who gained experience in Spain to easily transfer certification of that experience back to Ecuador.

There will be a web page for Ecuadorians in Spain to job search in Ecuador’s private and public sectors. The goal is to expand this program to reach large communities of Ecuadorian migrants in other places, such as New York.

The labour minister says it is the government’s priority to get migrants to return to Ecuador. He says Spain’s economic crisis in 2009 motivated about 10,000 Ecuadorians to return home.

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