The Government will request the precautionary suspension of the distribution of migrant minors.

PalmThe government will request the Supreme Court to temporarily suspend the distribution of migrant minors from the Canary Islands and Ceuta, which the Spanish government plans to implement before the end of August. President Marga Prohens announced this Thursday after meeting with the presidents of the four island councils to discuss the migration crisis of recent weeks, which has seen the arrival of 1,500 people in the Balearic Islands in the last 15 days.

Prohens has attacked the Spanish government and accused it of doing nothing once the route between Algeria and the Balearic Islands has become "the main gateway for irregular immigration into Europe" and has highlighted that by 2025 more than 4.70 people will have arrived each year." The president has assured that the Government and the regional councils will continue acting on three fronts: demanding that the Spanish government "fight against the mafias" and reinforce the presence of state security forces and bodies in the Islands; demanding that the Sánchez executive "resume collaboration with Algeria to control migratory flows" and "ask the European Union to activate Frontex in the Balearic Islands"; carrying out a legal strategy to prevent the distribution of minors stipulated by Moncloa, with an appeal against the decree that regulates the distribution of these children (of July 28) and the request for the precautionary suspension of the ministerial order to proceed with the transfer - when it becomes effective.

Regarding Frontex, Prohens stressed that this EU body issued a warning in 2021 "about the Balearic route." "In 2024, the alert was raised to medium level, and in 2025, the possibility of raising it to high level is being discussed in order to be deployed," the president added, in addition to quoting a fragment of a report that indicates that "potentially malicious people" may arrive, mixed "with irregular migrants." The deployment of Frontex in the Islands implies the arrival of "European police officers specialized in border control and management of migratory flows," the president pointed out, in addition to highlighting that "material resources," such as radars and drones, would also be provided. "When people arrive, they are also subjected to more exhaustive controls and interviews," she added.

One of the points that Prohens highlighted is the lack of information on people arriving by boat to the Balearic Islands. "We have no information, not who is coming, not when, not from where," she said. The president asserted that she does not know how many migrants the Spanish government has transferred to detention centers for foreigners on the Peninsula and how many have remained on the islands. "We cannot affirm that the majority will leave. Furthermore, it seems to me to be unprecedentedly irresponsible that the Spanish government delegate [Alfonso Rodríguez] says it is not such a big problem [in the islands] because they are leaving," she continued, also emphasizing that "the only immigration policy is borders."

More than 300 minors have arrived in the Islands this year.

To justify the Balearic Islands' refusal to take in the 49 minors assigned by the Spanish government, Prohens reiterated that the islands lack the material or human resources to care for them. Of the 680 minors in the island councils' foster care system, 300 have arrived this year, and the president has estimated the centers' overcrowding at "more than 1,000%. "That means we are destroying the foster care system," she said, adding that "there are hundreds of minors waiting to arrive in the islands in the coming months." "Here we can no longer take them in dignified conditions. We will possibly have to create spaces where no child should live," she emphasized. Therefore, she reiterated that the government will use "every avenue to prevent their distribution."

The president of the Mallorcan Council, Llorenç Galmés, indicated that 166 minors have arrived in Mallorca this year, "24 in the last week," and that the increase over the last five years has been 625%. Galmés also emphasized that two out of every three minors under the care of the island institution "are foreigners." "If the situation continues like this, we will not be able to maintain the education and integration programs, and we will only be able to offer basic assistance," he continued.

On the other hand, although the president of the Menorcan Council, Adolfo Vilafranca, has acknowledged that on this island "the situation is different," he also criticized the lack of aid from the Spanish government. "We are not on vacation and it is the middle of August," stated the president of the Ibizan Council, Vicente Marí, to demonstrate the significance of the migration crisis in the Balearic Islands. The Ibizan also lamented that 56 percent of the minors in care on the Pitiusan island (78 out of 140) "are migrants." The president of the Formentera Council, Óscar Portas, emphasized that this is the island that "suffers the most" from the current situation.

Furthermore, Prohens recalled some measures to make it more difficult for young migrants to access government aid. For example, to access emancipation aid, they must have been under guardianship for three years. This means that if a minor arrived in the Islands at the age of 16, they will not receive this aid upon reaching the age of majority. Three years of residency will also be required to access the guaranteed social income and job placement programs. The president also emphasized that no one will be eligible for public housing if they have not resided in the Islands for at least five years.

However, the president said that the government will strengthen integration and inclusion services for "regulated immigration," for "people who come to contribute." "We believe in immigration of people who come to integrate into the labor market, the laws, the culture, and our way of life. Those who come with other intentions will encounter our opposition," she said.

Meeting with the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration

Regarding the meeting with the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, the president said it will take place at the end of September. "We will request information on what is happening and Spain's response to Frontex's reports and requests," Prohens commented, also lamenting that the Balearic Islands lack some 600 state security forces and that municipalities are left unprotected because resources are being diverted "to dealing with the small boats."

Prohens also criticized the fact that the Spanish government delegate, Alfonso Rodríguez, did not participate in Thursday's meeting. "Faced with a crisis like this, we cannot look the other way," she said, emphasizing that there are "dramatic situations," such as the arrival of a small boat "with one dead person, injured people, and three others missing" in southern Mallorca.