Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government has announced an extraordinary €25 million package of public funds to care for the unaccompanied migrant minors (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 tens 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.
Madrid Received Warnings—But Responded Too Late
The controversy intensified after reports emerged that Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) had issued several warnings to the Interior Ministry in the days leading up to the border invasion about the risk of a mass crossing.
Hellbound and Down 