Spain approves migrant minor transfers from Canary Islands

Spain’s leftist government on Tuesday approved a reform to redistribute thousands of unaccompanied migrant minors nationwide from the Canary Islands, where record arrival numbers have saturated reception centres.

The Atlantic archipelago receives tens of thousands of people every year who make the perilous journey from west Africa on crammed boats in the hopes of reaching the European Union.

Local authorities have consistently warned of unsustainable pressure on their resources and complained about a lack of solidarity from the rest of the country.

“We are at a landmark in the defence of human rights, in the defence of the minors’ best interest,” said Angel Victor Torres, the government minister responsible for relations with Spain’s regions.

While the central government handles the reception of adult migrants, unaccompanied minors come under the remit of the regions.

The reform will allow regions whose hosting capacity is overwhelmed to activate a mechanism that transfers some of the migrant minors to other regions, Torres’s ministry said in a statement.

The Canary Islands host more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors but only have capacity for 900, meaning more than 4,000 would be moved to other regions, Torres said.

He added that the distribution of the minors would follow criteria including population, income and the availability of places in each region.

The government will also offer 100 million euros ($109 million) this year to help regions carry out the transfers.

The Canary Islands’ leader Fernando Clavijo hailed “an extremely important day for Spain”, saying the minors “will be relocated in 15 days, with all legal guarantees”.

– ‘Political weapon’ –

Efforts to share out the unaccompanied migrants had long stalled due to disagreements between the Socialist-led minority government and the opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) that governs many regions.

But the government secured the support of Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya, whose backing is essential for legislation to pass the hung parliament.

The influential PP leader of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said the “woeful deal” would be disputed in the courts and at the EU level.

“These minors are used as a political weapon. They, and every city where they are heartlessly sent, pay the price,” she wrote on X, saying Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez encouraged “mass illegal immigration”.

Arrivals in the archipelago surged to 46,843 in 2024, breaking the annual record for the second consecutive year, as tighter controls in the Mediterranean push migrants to attempt the Atlantic route.

Strong ocean currents and ramshackle boats make the crossing dangerous. At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea from January 1 to December 5, 2024, according to NGO Caminando Fronteras.

In a report published on Tuesday, Amnesty International condemned evidence of abuse and excessive punishments that unaccompanied migrant minors endure in saturated reception centers in the Canary Islands, pointing to a “failed” system.

Amnesty said some of the minors spoke of witnessing or suffering insults, being deprived of food and the confiscation of telephones and money, while staff lacked the right training.