Canarias minor transfer warning.
Government alerts Canary Islands to end of minor transfers; future arrivals could exceed limit.
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The Spanish Government has told the Canary Islands that the emergency transfer program for unaccompanied migrant minors to the mainland is over. The move is based on a technicality: the islands now hold fewer than 2,211 minors, the threshold set in a 2022 agreement to trigger mandatory state-led transfers. But with roughly 5,600 minors still in Canarian care — nearly triple the archipelago's capacity — the regional government is warning of imminent collapse, according to El Periódico.
Ministers Ángel Víctor Torres and Sira Rego formally notified the Canary Islands on June 18. The Central Government acknowledged that new arrivals could push the count above the limit again, but insisted the 2022 contingency mechanism has run its course. For Canarian officials, the announcement is, in their words, a "statistical mirage" that ignores the real humanitarian emergency on the ground.
How the 2,211 Threshold Became a Loophole
In May 2022, Spain's regional governments signed a migration response plan. It set the Canary Islands' stable capacity at around 1,500 places. If the number of minors exceeded 150% of that — 2,211 children — the "contingency" would kick in, requiring other regions to take the excess. The agreement was designed for a specific, time-limited surge, according to Levante EMV.
The Central Government now argues that once the specific transfers from that 2022 agreement were completed and the budget for them was spent, the mechanism legally ended. The Canary Islands counter that the real number — 5,600 minors — has never come down. The 2,211 figure, they say, measures a bureaucratic quota, not the actual crisis on the islands.
Canarian Centers Running at 250% Capacity This Summer
Candelaria Delgado, the Canarian Minister of Social Welfare, says reception centers are running at 250% capacity. The Canary Islands spent over €150 million caring for minors in 2023 — nearly €100 million more than their budget allowed, according to Diario de Mallorca. Summer is the peak season for Atlantic route crossings, and forecasts point to up to 70,000 total migrant arrivals in 2024.
Regional President Fernando Clavijo put it bluntly: "The reality is 5,600 children are in our care. This is a state matter, not a Canarian matter." Delgado called the decision to end transfers now "irresponsible" given the seasonal surge expected in July and August.
A Legislative Battle Over Mandatory Solidarity
Minister Torres insists a fix is coming. "We are working on a structural reform of the law so that transfers are no longer a matter of voluntary solidarity but a legal obligation," he said. That reform targets Article 35 of Spain's Immigration Law and must pass through Parliament in the coming weeks, according to El Correo Gallego.
The reform faces a difficult vote. PP-governed regions have refused to take in minors voluntarily. If the PP and Vox block the bill, the Canary Islands will have no legal mechanism to move children off the islands. That would leave the archipelago facing what NGOs like Save the Children describe as a violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Political Blame Game Splits Left and Right
The left frames the crisis as a story of PP-led regions blocking solidarity. The right argues the Central Government created the problem by failing to control borders and is now distributing the consequences to score political points, according to El Periódico de Aragón. Both sides agree the current system is broken — they disagree sharply on who broke it.
The stakes are real and immediate. If Parliament fails to reform the law before the summer peak, the Canary Islands may be forced to house children in sports halls or emergency tent cities. Minister Rego stressed that "the best interests of the minor" must come before administrative thresholds — but without a new law, those thresholds are all that exists.
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