The Government of Spain has completed the administrative processes for the relocation of the first unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents who have arrived on the Spanish coast, following the declaration of the immigration contingency in Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, pursuant to Royal Decree Law 2/2025, which modifies Article 35 of the Law on Foreigners.
Today, a meeting was held, chaired by the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, in which the Secretaries of State for Territorial Policy, Arcadi España, and the Minister for Youth and Childhood, Rubén Pérez, participated; in addition to the Government delegate in Melilla, Sabrina Moh; the Government delegate in Ceuta, Cristina Pérez; the Government subdelegate in Las Palmas, Teresa Mayans; and the Government subdelegate in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Javier. Also present were the General Secretary of Territorial Coordination, Miryam Álvarez; the General Director of the AGE in the Territory, Agustín Torres; and the General Director of the Autonomous and Local Legal Regime, Gonzalo Díaz.
Government delegates in Ceuta and Melilla will meet tomorrow, as planned, with heads of the governments of both autonomous cities and with the Prosecutor’s Office to close the relocations of minors, once the autonomous communities of destination have been assigned.
Likewise, the will of the Government of Spain is to hold a meeting in the same terms in the Canary Islands, where the first child arrived after declaring the immigration contingency was registered on September 11.
The Royal Decree-Law establishes two mechanisms for the relocation of these minors. On the one hand, for children arriving after the declaration of the immigration contingency, with an administrative period of 15 days. And, on the other hand, for those who were already in the border territories before the immigration contingency was declared, with an administrative period of four months.
In recent weeks, numerous meetings have been held on the management, coordination and follow-up of the dossiers and the work carried out by the Government delegations.
Following the declaration of migratory contingencies, the Government ' s subdelegations have carried out the necessary formalities, such as the registration of the child in the Registry of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors by the National Police; the initiation of the procedure and proposal for the determination of the Autonomous Community of destination; the hearing of the child; the request for a report to the Autonomous Community or City of origin; and the communication to the Office of the Prosecutor, among other actions.