Spain moves 500 migrant girls from Ceuta to mainland despite EU objections — The Debate
Madrid prepares to relocate hundreds of unaccompanied girls from the North African enclave, sparking a clash with EU migration rules.
Spain is preparing to transfer around 500 unaccompanied migrant girls from the enclave of Ceuta to the mainland, a step that clashes with EU migration rules.
The Ministry of Youth and Children is drawing up the relocation scheme, with Sira Rego leading the department and the secretary of state for youth and children, Rubén Pérez, handling the details on the ground.
National Police have recorded 2,168 unaccompanied minors in Ceuta since the mass arrival on 30 July, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry. Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the total number who entered from that date was 72,000, most of whom returned within days.
Girls and children under 13 are being prioritised because they are deemed the most vulnerable. As a first step, more than 110 have been moved into a school that has been turned into a temporary female‑only facility.
The move comes amid multiple reports of sexual violence. The Guardia Civil confirmed 15 assaults in Ceuta since the 30 July influx, with the latest incident on 14 August involving three men caught trying to assault a 10‑year‑old girl.
According to the fact‑checking site Maldita.es, the National Police had logged 11 complaints from Moroccan minors by 18 August, while the Ceuta prosecutor's office recorded 13 formal complaints by 17 August.
Ceuta University Hospital treated at least five girls under 14 for injuries consistent with rape or sexual assault, health sources said, adding that the true figure could be higher because some victims do not lodge a complaint.
The Andalusian High Court of Justice has remanded nine migrants who arrived on 30 July and ordered two others expelled; three of those cases involve sexual assaults, with two victims being minors.
The ministry frames the relocation as protecting the best interests of the most vulnerable children, not as a direct reaction to the assaults.
Girls have been placed in designated safe spaces while a longer‑term plan is prepared, allowing specialised child‑protection organisations to care for them on the mainland without immediately transferring legal guardianship to the receiving autonomous communities.
The package also contemplates a royal decree‑law that would impose binding reception on all autonomous communities.
In the days after the mass crossing, the Spanish Government repeatedly insisted that no irregular arrivals from Ceuta would reach the Spanish mainland or the rest of Europe, stressing the enclave's special status outside the full Schengen free‑movement rules and the existence of exit controls.
This shift marks an official exception to that earlier messaging.
The European Commission home affairs spokesman Markus Lammert said Brussels continues to insist that all those remaining illegally in Ceuta be returned, and that EU law, including the return directive agreed in June, provides for the return of unaccompanied minors.
The Ceuta city government rejected the plan, insisting the priority must be the return of all irregular arrivals, including minors. Its president, Juan Jesús Vivas of the centre‑right Popular Party (PP), said the city had accepted nothing and that its request remained the departure of all those who entered.
Several mainland regions governed by the PP and the right‑wing Vox have also signalled opposition to accepting additional unaccompanied minors.
Madrid has allocated €25 million in emergency funding to Ceuta, on top of €5.5 million approved in July, announced by inclusion, social security and migration minister Elma Saiz.
The decision raises questions about the consistency of EU migration standards, as member states grapple with how to handle irregular arrivals in territories that sit outside the Schengen zone.
If Spain proceeds, it could set a precedent for other peripheral regions, such as French overseas departments, to seek similar exceptions.
Poland has used the episode to call for tougher EU migration rules, illustrating how national politics across the bloc are being reshaped by migration pressures.