The Ministry of Infancia has accused regions governed by the Partido Popular (PP) of blocking debate over the future of 1,898 unaccompanied migrant minors in Ceuta. The dispute followed a technical meeting on Thursday, where the ministry aimed to prepare for the Sectoral Conference scheduled for August 27. The conference agenda will not include the minors’ situation or possible relocation to mainland Spain, after PP-led communities refused to discuss the topic.
Information from ministry sources, the PP regions’ refusal means pressure on Ceuta’s child protection system will not be formally discussed at the highest interregional level. The ministry had hoped to open talks on distributing the minors across other autonomous communities to ease the pressure, but the proposal remains off the table. The PP has opposed redistribution, arguing that the government has yet to provide reliable data on the exact number of minors in Ceuta since the mass arrival on July 30.
Minister Sira Rego publicly criticized the PP’s stance, saying the party was unwilling even to debate the matter. She also noted the absence of Vox-led regions, Extremadura, Aragón, and Castilla y León, from Thursday’s meeting, interpreting their non-participation as a clear rejection of hosting migrant minors. At least ten autonomous communities have signaled opposition to receiving children from Ceuta, though all would be legally required to comply if the central government ordered it, including communities governed in coalition with Vox.
The government currently prioritizes family reunification, aiming to return minors to their families in African countries where possible. Reunification efforts have continued alongside domestic placements: on October 21, Government spokesperson and Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz said Ceuta’s protection system was caring for 3,331 minors who had arrived during the late-July mass entry. Of those moved to mainland Spain, 107 had been reunited with family members and 181 transferred to other autonomous communities. Rego had confirmed that institutional and family encourage care within Spain were also under consideration; both could involve transfers to the mainland. She also referred to recent remarks by PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, suggesting that if Ceuta is indeed Spain, the party should help address the city’s crisis.
The transfers to other autonomous communities were made under Article 35 of Organic Law 4/2000, Spain’s law on the rights and freedoms of foreign nationals and their social integration, commonly known as the Immigration Law. The provision supplies the statutory structure cited for relocating the 181 minors. The dispute concerns regional agreement to placements and how the central government applies the legal mechanism. On October 19, Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres defended redistribution as “mandatory justice and solidarity,” saying the scale of the influx had been unforeseeable. He also said about 4,000 minors had been transferred to other territories over the preceding two years without comparable pressure.
PP sources countered that Thursday’s meeting was purely technical, attended by the Secretary of State rather than the minister, and focused only on approving a €25 million emergency aid package for Ceuta. They argue that planning or discussing redistribution is premature without clear data on the number of minors. Galicia’s representative, for example, said the region had already taken in 141 minors from Ceuta and the Canary Islands last year and criticized the central government for cutting funding by 82% for 2025. Torres also criticized the PP for voting against a proposed change to the Immigration Law intended to help distribution, arguing that parliamentary votes shaped the parties’ positions in the dispute.
Other regions raised similar concerns. Valencia’s regional minister Elena Albalat said that before responsibility is shifted to the regions, the government must identify the minors and attempt family reunification. The Basque Country’s director of Infancia, Txema Ezkerra, said the state’s primary duty is to protect children, not simply redistribute them, and called for every effort to locate their families before considering transfers. Solidarity with Ceuta, he said, must not come at the expense of proper planning or respect for regional competencies. Murcia also rejected resolving the crisis through redistribution. Its councillor for Social Policy, Families and Equality, Conchita Ruiz, called on the central government to take responsibility for migration policy and reinforce border protection. Murcia was reported to be caring for 735 minors across a population of about 1.6 million; Ceuta, with roughly 85,000 residents, had more than 3,000 minors in its system.
The political positions in Ceuta have also shifted during the crisis. Juan Jesús Vivas, the city’s president and a PP member, was reported to have supported distributing minors among the autonomous communities before July 30, then opposed it after August 1. La Vanguardia described the change as a major reversal following the arrival of about 500 girls considered highly vulnerable, who crossed the Strait to receive care from the basic administration. The episode has highlighted the tension between Ceuta’s capacity constraints and opposition to compulsory redistribution.
Later administrative figures show how quickly the caseload changed. Reporting on October 23 put the number of minors registered in Ceuta’s protection system at 3,434, including 114 accommodated by families in mainland Spain and 181 transferred under Article 35. These figures, reported by Noticias de Gipuzkoa, reflect a later snapshot than Saiz’s October 21 figures and show family placements and statutory transfers proceeding at the same time. As detailed in a recent report on the ongoing crisis in Ceuta, the lack of consensus and reliable data has intensified the challenge of finding a sustainable solution.
Spain’s system for handling unaccompanied migrant minors assigns responsibility to the regions, with each autonomous community expected to care for children within its territory. Extraordinary arrivals, such as those in Ceuta, can overwhelm local resources and require a coordinated national response. As the August 27 conference approaches, the government faces pressure to break the deadlock and ensure adequate protection for minors in Ceuta; the later figures underline the scale the caseload would reach in the months that followed.
