The Ministry of the Interior has appointed Chief Commissioner José Santafé Arnedo as the new Deputy Director of Operations (DAO) of the National Police, the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the force. This change comes after the crisis triggered by the lawsuit alleging sexual assault, which led to the resignation of the previous head, José Ángel González, on February 17th. Santafé Arnedo previously served as the Chief Superintendent of the National Police in the Balearic Islands, a position he held since July 2022. With this appointment, the Ministry of the Interior places a veteran officer with extensive experience in the Police and recent service in the Balearic Islands at the head of the force's operational structure. The new Deputy Director of Operations joined the force in 1990 and has held various positions within the police organization throughout his career. In recent years, he had been the highest-ranking National Police officer in the archipelago. Following the resignation of José Ángel González, the Deputy Directorate of Operations was temporarily headed by Chief Commissioner Gemma Barroso, Deputy Director General of Human Resources and Training for the National Police. Barroso was also the one who was informed of the complaint filed by a female inspector and who subsequently contacted the complainant to activate police protection measures. With the appointment of Santafé Arnedo, the Ministry of the Interior has provisionally resolved the crisis at the top of the National Police's operational leadership.

The president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, has formally requested information from the Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, regarding the status of requests for information from the countries of origin concerning the family situations of all migrant children who have arrived in the Balearic Islands, in order to assess their repatriation. "Any child protection system has as its primary mission family reunification. Children are better off with their families," stated Guillermo Sánchez, president of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS), on Wednesday. He emphasized that the Immigration Law stipulates that requesting information from the countries of origin regarding the family situation of each child—a procedure that must be carried out before initiating the repatriation process—is the exclusive responsibility of the Spanish state. However, Sánchez expressed his concern that he does not know "whether the Ministry of the Interior is processing these requests." In the same vein, he added that he has presided over IMAS for more than two years and that during this period the Spanish government "has neither responded nor sent any information regarding repatriations." Therefore, he reiterated that if repatriation is not possible, the child protection systems of the countries of origin will have to take responsibility. He also insisted that the Spanish government has not requested any information from the island institution about the minors who have arrived in Mallorca. Furthermore, the president of IMAS considered the €1.2 million in aid that the Spanish government will provide to the Balearic Islands to care for migrant children to be "a joke." Sánchez explained that Mallorca is entitled to approximately €700,000, an amount which, he considered, "is not even enough to cover the costs of ten days of care for the minors." Budget Execution

In 2024, the Consell de Mallorca approved the largest budget in the institution's history, totaling €646 million. In fact, one out of every two million euros is allocated to social policies. The IMAS budget increased by 4.5% compared to 2023. However, the president of the entity emphasized today that the system is compromised by a lack of funding, staff, and adapted facilities. "In terms of human resources, ratios, funding, and infrastructure, we no longer have any capacity for growth," he insisted. The left has repeatedly stated that in 2024 the island institution failed to spend 20% of its budget. The PSIB attributes this surplus to the failure to execute spending items planned in the initial budget, especially investment, across the various departments of the Council and the IMAS. For his part, Sánchez asserted that the island institution has spent the entire IMAS budget and explained that the agency has had to request an additional 15 million euros to finance the reception of migrant children. Regarding the allocation of spaces, Sánchez criticized the lack of support from some municipal institutions governed by the left. "We have requested the allocation of spaces from city councils and have received no response. If they have available spaces, I hope they will make them available to IMAS," he said. "Pure and simple racism."

The spokesperson for the PSIB (Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands) in the Council of Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, described Galmés's actions as "pure and simple racism" and asserted that requesting the repatriation of migrant children under guardianship in Mallorca "crosses every red line in the defense of Human Rights and Children's Rights by a president of the Council of Mallorca." The Socialist spokesperson attributed the initiative to a "drift towards the extreme right" by the island president, to appease the ideology of his far-right Vox partners in the Council's government. In fact, according to Cladera, "Galmés has already pushed his far-right allies, who are sitting in the government, further to the right."

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Frontex acts or not in the Balearic IslandsWhere has the migration wave surged this year? Just over 24 hours ago, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) denied the government delegation's claims to the islands and asserted that it has no agents deployed in the archipelago. It also stated that the Spanish government has not requested assistance in that territory. However, the Ministry of the Interior maintains that in November 2024 it requested air reinforcements for Frontex, specifically on the southern border of the Balearic Islands, to improve the detection of small boats. Furthermore, it insists that this reinforcement became effective especially starting last February. The People's Party (PP) has asked Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to clarify why there are such discrepancies in the accounts.

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Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska agreed this Monday with his Algerian counterpart, Said Sayoud, to strengthen the fight against criminal human trafficking networks by updating the return protocol and promoting new measures to limit the use of speedboats, as well as combat fraud.

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The Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, Coordination of Government Action, and Local Cooperation of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Antònia Maria Estarellas, has sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, calling for an urgent meeting to address the migration situation facing the islands. In the letter, Estarellas warns that the Balearic Islands are facing an unprecedented humanitarian emergency due to the sharp increase in boat arrivals from Algeria. In 2025 alone, 4,797 people arrived, of whom 1,500 arrived in August, representing a 77% increase compared to the previous year, the minister explained. Due to its proximity to the Algerian port, Formentera bears the greatest pressure: almost half of the arrivals are concentrated on this island, which has seen its basic services overwhelmed.

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