Ceuta appeals for aid as child migrant crisis becomes 'unsustainable'
Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta has appealed for urgent government assistance after hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children overwhelmed its reception system following last week's mass border crossing from Morocco. Local authorities have warned that the situation is "unsustainable".
The leader of Spain's north African territory of Ceuta on Wednesday said the number of children left there after last week's rush of migrants was "unsustainable", pleading for government aid.
Spain said 70,000 of the 72,000 people who had entered Ceuta from Morocco in a sudden rush last week had now returned, after an incident that led to a spat between Spain and some other EU countries seeking a harder line on immigration.
But the roughly 2,500 who remain include hundreds of unaccompanied minors who are enduring dire conditions with limited access to food, water, shelter and sanitation.
Ceuta's leader Juan Jesus Vivas, of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), told public broadcaster RTVE that authorities were taking care of 1,100 youngsters against a theoretical capacity of 90.
"This is an absolutely unsustainable situation," said Vivas, adding that there was "a high risk for order and public security" as reception centres were overwhelmed.
READ MORECeuta migrant influx reignites immigration divisions in Europe
Groups of young migrants continued to roam the streets of Ceuta on Wednesday, gathering in parks and beaches as authorities worked to identify and accommodate them, an AFP reporter saw.
The Spanish government's top official in Ceuta, Miguel Angel Perez, conceded those youngsters were "a priority, a source of great concern".
The charity Save the Children estimates that around 1,000 "unprotected" minors are among the migrants still in Ceuta.
"We are asking for help, for assistance from the rest of Spain" through the leftist central government, said Vivas.
Any redistribution of the children to the rest of Spain under existing legal provisions is likely to meet resistance from regions governed by the PP and the anti-immigration, far-right Vox party.
Socialist deputy prime minister Carlos Cuerpo insisted on public television that the PP and its regional governments "must comply with the law just like everyone else".
'Serious trouble'
The ministry for youth and children has announced €25 million ($29 million) of emergency funding for Ceuta to help the territory of 84,000 inhabitants to care for the minors.
Vivas also said he had contacted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office on July 27 to warn that hundreds of migrants had entered Ceuta from Morocco and "we were headed for serious trouble".
Spanish legal authorities raised the death toll from last week's incident to 78 after a body was recovered late on Wednesday.
Morocco's interior ministry on Sunday said 11 people had died on the Moroccan side of the border, all but one by drowning as they tried to swim around a barrier in the Mediterranean Sea.
READ MORESpain and fellow EU nations bury the hatchet after Ceuta migration discord
The office said it would get in touch with "the relevant ministries" to address the matter, he added.
The following day Vivas said he asked the interior ministry to declare a national state of emergency but was told this was "not legally possible".
"We gave sufficient warning that the situation was becoming extremely strained and that exceptional measures needed to be adopted," he added.
The government has maintained that it received no prior warning of the scale of the incident.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Spain: Sánchez announces $36,610,000 USD of public funds to care for ‘minors’ who invaded Ceuta
Tests have confirmed that a significant number of so-called unaccompanied “minor” migrants aren’t minors at all. They’re adults who are exploiting the system. Earlier in July, official data underscored “a growing ‘farce’ in the handling of unaccompanied minor claims” across Spain. Findings showed a whopping “70% of tested ‘unaccompanied minor’ immigrants are actually adults.” Over in France, when 500 African “minors” invaded, 80% proved to be adults. The latest Spanish border invasion would be no different, but since Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is a socialist and a fully integrated member of the red/green alliance, he continues to destroy Spain from within, despite the toll on Spanish citizens; young Spaniards are increasingly seeing migration invasions as “real threats.”
In Ceuta, a crowd of illegal Moroccan migrants is already establishing its own rules in the city
The crowd shouts “Allahu Akbar” at National Guard officers and drags a wounded migrant through the streets in protest against being returned home. pic.twitter.com/Q27cvVFLTW
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 3, 2026
Spain’s Socialist Government Allocates €25 Million to Immigrant Minors Who Invaded Ceuta as One in Three Spanish Children Lives at Risk of Poverty
by Maria Herrera Mellado, Gateway Hispanic, August 4, 2026:
Breaking news from Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government has announced an extraordinary €25 million package of public funds to care for the unaccompanied migrant minorities (commonly known in Spain as MENAs ) who arrived in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta during last week’s invasion.
The announcement comes as official figures show that between 28% and 33% of Spanish children live in poverty or are at risk of social exclusion—the highest child poverty rate in the European Union. That means roughly 2.6 million Spanish children are living in economically vulnerable conditions while the central government approves emergency funding for foreign minors who entered Spain during the recent border crisis.
The funding was announced Tuesday by Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Immigration, Elma Saiz , who said the money will be used to provide urgent assistance to the approximately 860 to 1,000 immigrant minors who remain under Ceuta’s custody following the illegal mass entry of thousands of Moroccan nationals, most of them young men. The new funding comes on top of a previous €5.5 million allocation.
Saiz said the measure demonstrates the government’s “commitment” to protecting vulnerable people. Critics, however, argue that it effectively rewards what they describe as a mass illegal border incursion that challenged Spain’s sovereignty while thousands of Spanish children continue to face severe economic hardship….
Here's an idea. Have the Red Cross deliver the food, etc to the Morocco side of the gates.
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