The ACV is above the quota set by the State for the reception of migrant minors, while Navarre is below
Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa currently serve 843 foreign minors, 65 more than their due, while the latest data put the Foral Community at around 30% of its capacity.
Within a week of the migration crisis in Ceuta, the debate on migrant minors and the Aliens Actadopted by each community has once again been at the centre of the political agenda and the imbalances between communitieshave once again become apparent.
In the Southern Basque Country itself, the situation is very different in the Basque Autonomous Community and in Navarre, where the CSC currently caters to 843 foreign minors — Bizkaia, 554; Álava, 109; and Gipuzkoa, 180 — and is acting above its capacity.
Yesterday, the Minister for Welfare, Youth and Democratic Challenge of the Basque Government, Nerea Melgosa, argued that the "first duty of the State" is to "exhaust the channels" for the return of minors to their families.
Navarre is in a different situation. According to the law, it is responsible for taking in 237 minors , and according to the latest data, it is 30% of its capacity.
In view of the gravity of the situation, the Social Rights, Social Economy and Employment Counsellor of the Government of Navarre, Carmen Maeztu, has announced the readiness of the Foral Community to receive minors arriving in Ceuta and has appealed to the other communities to comply with the criteria established by law.
Imbalance in territorial distribution
At present, three territories are in a state of collapse in theState: Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, whose reception centres are saturated, 38 times their maximum capacity.
At the other end are Aragon and Extremadura, which do not reach half the legal limit, and in both communities the PP and Vox are in power.
There are also 670 fewer minors in reception centres in Madrid than there were a year ago.
NGOs "very concerned"
And while communities are looking at each other, NGOs report that they are not protecting minors . They call for respect for the law and remember that collective returns of minors cannot be made.
For its part, UNICEF Spain has urged public institutions to put in place mechanisms to guarantee the rights of minors, and, in the same vein, Save the Childrenstresses that it is essential to meet the needs of all vulnerable children in Ceuta in accordance with the Aliens Act.
What does the Aliens Act say?
The Act of the Royal Spanish Fox, last updated in 2025, provides for a total of 17,081 places for migrant minors to be distributed among the various territories, a distribution that is mandatory so that the system does not overflow only in the arriving communities.
The criteria for this distribution are as follows:
- Fifty percent of the underage population is divided by population, that is, the more people live in the community, the more places.
- 15%, taking into account the inverse of the unemployment rate; in this case, the less unemployed territories become more important.
- 13%, depending on the income of the territory. Those with the most economic resources contribute the most.
- The effort made, as in the case of the ACV in July 2024, also influences the distribution decision.
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