The European Commission’s reported position that irregular migrants remaining in Ceuta should be returned to Morocco has become basic to the debate over Spain’s response to the crisis. Commission spokesperson for Internal Affairs Markus Lammert said Brussels expected people staying illegally in the enclave to return under EU migration rules. That general policy position does not create an automatic legal power to return unaccompanied children. Spain’s child-protection procedures require individual decisions that serve each child’s best interests.
The distinction is reflected in Spain’s handling of the arrivals. The Spanish government said that the people returned to Morocco were adults and that ordinary responsibility for unaccompanied minors rests with Ceuta’s autonomous authorities. On 20 October, the government also said none of the minors had by then been reunited with their families in Morocco. Ángel Víctor Torres, Spain’s Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, said “the direct return of minors is not legally possible.”
Under the Spain-Morocco structure for unaccompanied foreign minors, authorities must identify each child and examine personal and family circumstances. They must also coordinate with Moroccan authorities, then determine whether a return serves the child’s best interests. This process differs from the voluntary return arrangements applied to adults. The structure adopted at EU level does not remove these child-specific safeguards or replace the individual assessment required before a child can be returned.
The scale of the wider response is reflected in government figures. Spain said more than 12,700 people returned to Morocco between 10 August and 20 October 2026, while most adults remaining in Ceuta were accommodated in facilities provided by the General State Administration. A Royal Decree-Law approved on 1 September allocated €63 million in direct support to Ceuta for the care of minors. These figures describe returns and reception measures, not a mass return of unaccompanied children.
Spain has also moved children within the country while pursuing family-reunification options. Torres reported that 181 minors had been transferred to other autonomous communities under Article 35 of Spain’s Immigration Law, while 114 were staying with families on the mainland. Separately, 63 family-reunification files sent to Morocco had received no response, information from La Vanguardia. The figures show that domestic transfers and case-by-case family assessments accompanied returns of adults.
The arrivals that triggered the crisis took place on 30 and 31 July 2026. Subsequent measures included adult returns and reception support. Authorities also transferred minors to mainland Spain and worked to establish whether children could safely reunite with relatives. Reuters reported that eight charities, including Oxfam and Amnesty International, complained to Spain’s ombudsman about alleged rights violations, including forced returns and denial of interpreters and legal assistance. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska rejected the characterization of adult returns as covert deportations, saying: “There are no covert deportations under any circumstances.” He also said Spain had received up to 1,200 asylum applications, of which 700 had been resolved.
The debate unfolds amid heightened attention to border management. Moroccan security forces have stepped up efforts to prevent mass crossings into Ceuta, as highlighted when Moroccan authorities blocked a large group of migrants from reaching the border. Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, has long been a focal point for migration from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa. The current response draws a clear legal distinction: adults may return through the relevant procedures, while an unaccompanied minor’s return requires an individualized child-protection assessment and cooperation between Spain and Morocco.
