The Mallorcan Council will not accept the transfer of migrant minors from other autonomous communities.

PalmThe Minister of Social Welfare of the Mallorcan Council and president of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS), Guillermo Sánchez, asserted that he will prevent the Spanish government from sending migrant minors from other parts of the country to Mallorca. According to the Moncloa plan, approximately 3,000 young people will be transferred, most of whom will go to Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, and the Valencian Community. "We are not going to accept any transfer of minors," Sánchez asserted, when asked what would happen if a boat with unaccompanied minors arrived in port.

He stated that the funding proposed by Moncloa to care for them, which amounts to 2 million euros, "is insufficient and does not cover even one month's cost of maintaining these minors." "The cost of overemployment amounts to 20 million euros," he added. For now, the IMAS has 49 regular places to care for these young people, but currently serves 430, he noted.

"If Pedro Sánchez thought we would overcome the imposition and blackmail that the last Sectoral Conference on Minors entailed, he was mistaken," Sánchez said. "We will not accept the removal of our powers regarding minors, nor an imposition that has failed to address our requests or funding demands. The rights of minors cannot be a bargaining chip," the president stated. "What the State is proposing is irresponsible and creates neglect for minors. It is illegal, and we will denounce it in all necessary instances," he stated.

To support communities with the greatest migratory pressure

The Spanish government approved at the Council of Ministers on Tuesday the allocation of two million euros to the Balearic Islands in 2025 to guarantee the sustainability of its system for hosting unaccompanied migrant minors. This is the first time that the archipelago would receive part of this credit, consisting of 22 million euros to be distributed among several territories, according to a statement from the Ministry of Youth and Children: the Canary Islands will receive 8.5 million; Ceuta, 7 million; and Melilla, 4.5 million.

Minister Sira Rego stated that the objective is to support territories that make an "extra effort" in material and budgetary terms to care for migrant children and adolescents due to the fact that they are arrival areas. The resources will be allocated to the immediate care and reception of these young people, as well as to all information, guidance, and psychosocial support activities, including schooling, socio-labor integration, and social inclusion.

The proposed distribution of these funds was approved at the last Sectoral Conference on June 27 and was criticized as insufficient by regions such as the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. Rego recalled that his department is promoting the development of the royal decree law for the relocation of these young people from areas with greater migratory pressure to other territories, with the aim of guaranteeing the minors "a supportive, dignified, and binding reception" and supporting the communities of arrival: "Migration is a national issue and must be addressed as it should be."

The Government calls the imposition of reception on them an "insult."

For his part, the spokesperson and First Vice President of the Catalan Government, Antoni Costa, called it an "insult" that the Balearic Islands have to take in unaccompanied migrant minors, a result of the division of state resources. Costa asked the Spanish government to reflect on the matter and act accordingly. "One day they acknowledge that the Balearic Islands are saturated and then they say they must take in more migrants," he insisted. He attacked Calvo for blackmailing the government with the "threat" of not sending the ordinary credit to finance the care of unaccompanied migrant minors. "The Formentera Regional Government alone is facing a debt of more than four million euros, and they're blackmailing us for two million euros," he continued. "Really?"

The PSIB calls for Sánchez's resignation

The PSIB (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) in the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council) has called for the resignation of the president of IMAS after he stated on Friday that he will prevent migrant minors from other parts of the country from reaching Mallorca. "The person in charge of minors in care in Mallorca can never ignore children's human rights in his decisions," the group denounced.

"This is a political position that disqualifies Sánchez as a manager of social services," said Councilor Sofia Alonso. "Both the Government and the Consell de Mallorca demonstrate a complete lack of institutional responsibility and an alarming refusal to defend the rights of children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable," the opposition councilor continued. In this regard, they accused the PP of caving in to the demands of the far right and considered that Guillermo Sánchez may have seen Catalina Cirer's political demise and sought to "save" his position by adopting Vox's position in a "shameful capitulation" that undermines the "twin's" twin.