The sudden influx of unaccompanied migrant minors has prompted the Spanish government to approve an extraordinary €25 million allocation to help Ceuta manage the situation. The credit was approved on 27 August 2026 at a plenary meeting of the Conference on Childhood Affairs to finance care for children and adolescents during 2026. Elma Saiz, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, announced the funding in Madrid, saying it comes on top of the €5.5 million distributed to Ceuta last July as part of a broader €35 million package for Spain’s autonomous communities.
The €25 million is part of a wider basic-government response. A Royal Decree-Law on Urgent Social and Economic Measures, approved on 1 September, added €63 million in direct support for Ceuta’s care of minors, bringing the combined amount to €88 million. The government said €2 million of the later allocation was set aside to hire representatives for minors, adding legal-protection support to funding for reception and day-to-day care.
Pressure on Ceuta’s authorities has mounted since the mass crossing from Morocco at the end of July. The Ministry of the Interior estimates that more than 60,000 people have entered the enclave and at least 90 have died, while the number of unaccompanied minors has been difficult to establish. The local government, led by Juan Vivas, initially reported caring for 862 migrant children and warned that the true figure could exceed a thousand, with some minors still unaccounted for on the streets. By 20 October, but, Saiz reported that 3,331 migrant minors were in Ceuta’s autonomous protection system, showing how much the caseload had grown during the response.
Saiz said the new funds are intended to strengthen Ceuta’s capacity to care for and protect vulnerable children. She also urged Spain’s autonomous communities, including those governed by the Partido Popular, to share responsibility for receiving and caring for migrant minors. The government said 181 children had been transferred to other regions under Article 35 of Organic Law 4/2000, Spain’s law on the rights and freedoms of foreign nationals and their social integration. Another 107 minors had moved through family reunification, bringing the reported total relocated from Ceuta to 288.
The Ministry of Youth and Children says Article 35 provides for a binding, solidarity-based distribution of minors among regions, rather than transfers based only on voluntary bilateral arrangements. The funding measures and transfers operate through separate instruments: the August credit and September direct support finance Ceuta’s care responsibilities, while Article 35 provides the cited legal basis for relocation between regions. The government also said 63 cases had been referred to Morocco for possible family reunification. As of its October update, no minors had been reunited with Morocco through that process.
Sira Rego, Minister of Youth and Children, announced plans to travel to Ceuta to coordinate the response on the ground. The ministry aims to activate available mechanisms to provide dignified accommodation for newly arrived children and adolescents. The recent reform of the immigration law also allows agreements with NGOs and foundations specializing in child protection, along with family reunification for minors whose relatives live in their countries of origin when it serves the child’s best interests.
Officials are working to identify each minor individually, a step they say is impressive for accurate reporting and transfers to appropriate child-protection facilities. In the meantime, two local schools will become temporary shelters for the latest arrivals. Ceuta has been under an extraordinary migration contingency since August 2025. By 20 October, the government had also reported 12,705 migrant returns from Ceuta to Morocco since 10 August, alongside the child-protection figures.
Many of the minors initially spent nights outside a warehouse near the El Tarajal border. The site has since been adapted to provide emergency shelter. Alberto Gaitán, Ceuta’s Councillor for the Presidency and head of the Minors Department, said the children are now being moved to safer facilities. The city’s resources remain stretched, and the situation continues to evolve.
This crisis recalls earlier emergencies in Ceuta, where authorities have repeatedly struggled to manage sudden surges in arrivals. A recent report on the city’s urgent conversion of industrial spaces for child migrants noted that pressure on local infrastructure and services has been mounting.
Spain’s approach to unaccompanied minors is shaped by national and EU regulations, which prioritize the best interests of the child and require member states to provide adequate care. Ceuta’s position as a border enclave makes it a frequent entry point for migrants from North Africa, often bringing humanitarian challenges that stretch local and national support systems. Funding and transfers between regions are separate parts of the response, alongside casework for individual children. The effort requires continued coordination among authorities at every level.
