In answer to the increasing demand and sensitizing of the citizens concerning international adoption, last November the General Direction of Social Action, the Minor and the Family of the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry organized November last the first Workshop on International Adoption on a state level, addressed to technicians and professionals. During the workshop around 300 people registered and more than 30 speakers evaluated the various and complex aspects which make up the present situation of adoption.
The training and the selection of adopting parents, the national and international legislative framework, the view of the countries of origin, the Collaborating Agencies for International Adoption (Entitades Colaboradoras de Adopci-n Internacional, ECAI), the collected experiences in various European countries, the role of the consulates, the experience of adopting parents and adopted children... Each and every one of the different aspects related to adoption were dealt with on the 5, 6 and 7 of November last in Madrid during a workshop that was intense and interesting. The European countries, with a tradition of more than 20 years in international adoption, were surprised by the increasing number of Collaborating Agencies for International Adoption that are being authorized in our country. Various foreign speakers openly expressed their worries as regards this subject, warning the Spanish administration about the serious problems that could derive form it. Some months after the Workshop, and while new agencies are being authorized, Mar'a Teresa Mog'n, General Director of Social Action, the Minor and the Family, affirms in some declarations to our magazine: "It is true that the increase of these agencies has been fast, that is to say, that in a very short period of time many have appeared. The concentration of various ECAI in some countries is also true, in Latin America as well as in Eastern Europe. For this reason, we consider that it is necessary to keep on working in conjunction with the Public Administration and the ECAI to introduce elements for a future realignment of the situation.".