Spain’s Minister for Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, has called for immediate humanitarian measures to address the crisis of over 5,400 unaccompanied minors stranded in the Canary Islands.
The archipelago’s facilities are overwhelmed, and efforts to redistribute the children across Spain have stalled due to opposition from the Popular Party (PP).
Torres criticized the regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, for blaming the central government while aligning with the PP, which has opposed mandatory redistribution of migrants. The far-right Vox party further complicates the situation by threatening to withdraw support for PP-led regional governments if they negotiate with Spain’s progressive administration.
Spain recorded 63,970 irregular migrant arrivals in 2024, a 12.5% increase from the previous year. The Canary Islands remain the main entry point, with 46,843 arrivals in 2024, a 17.4% rise. Migrant arrivals by land and sea in Ceuta also surged by 137%, while arrivals in Melilla and the Balearic Islands declined.
