Age tests in Spain: Over 80% of migrants found to be adults

Age tests for migrants: 80% in Aragon result as adults

A key statistic challenges the official narrative on migrant youth centers: in Aragon, more than 80% of young people subjected to age assessments over the past three years turned out to be adults. In the Balearic Islands, 60% of those undergoing dental exams also exceeded the age of majority. In provinces like Seville or Malaga, according to data used by professionals, the rate of false minors exceeds 90%. Age is not verified ex officio: the system registers anyone claiming to be a minor as such, and only the Prosecutor's Office can order radiological tests when suspicion arises. The result is massive fraud that turns protection centers into disguised adult residences.

What age tests reveal in Spain

The figures accumulated across various autonomous communities paint an undeniable pattern. In Aragon, additional tests started under the Lambán government and continued with Azcón revealed that over 80% of migrants subjected to these procedures in the last three years were adults. In the Balearics, 60% of those given dental exams were found to be of legal age. The Prosecutor's Office, according to cited data, acknowledges that only 45% of migrants subjected to tests are actually minors.

The mechanism is simple: a person arrives, claims to be 17, and the system registers them as a minor without prior verification. Age testing is only activated when the Juvenile Prosecutor orders it, trinc by radiology. Until then, the adult remains under state guardianship in a protection center, consuming resources meant for children. In provinces like Seville or Malaga, the ratio of false minors exceeds 90%, according to available data.

The business of youth centers

Overcrowding in centers like Hortaleza in Madrid is not just a space issue. Some argue that behind the management of these facilities lies a network of subsidies turning reception into a business. NGOs, the State, and even sports clubs participate in a system that, according to this view, feeds on the confusion between minors and adults. The Prosecutor has denounced that the Red Cross registers clearly adult immigrants as minors, citing a total of 36,000 cases.

Center staff—guards, educators—describe constant tension, with assaults and threats. In Hortaleza, the situation has become unsustainable, and the Community of Madrid has not applied effective measures, according to critics. The most cited case involves an inmate who raped a 14-year-old girl in Hortaleza: he was 23, not 17. Police stated they believed he was an adult.

Fraud reaching the courts

The debate on age tests is not new. In Sweden, dentists reportedly discovered the fraud, which the government silenced. In the UK, AI systems have been used to detect adults posing as minors, documenting cases of people over 40 in classes with 12-year-olds. The lingering question is why Spain does not generalize these tests.

The official response often claims tests are "discriminatory" and affect the minor's "dignity." This argument has led several countries to ban age assessments. Consequently, age goes unchecked, turning the system into an open door. Some call this gaslighting: making us doubt the obvious to accept the abnormal as normal.

When the minor turns out to be an adult

Confirming a supposed minor is an adult does not automatically resolve the situation. The individual may be repatriated or left in irregular administrative status. But the damage is done: resources diverted, centers overcrowded, violence multiplied. In Montjuïc, lawlessness allegedly prevails, directed by gangs. In the Canary Islands, some centers allow North African parents to visit their children and leave them under state guardianship.

The father of a girl murdered by a migrant in the Netherlands threw a chair at the judge upon hearing the sentence: 120 hours of community service. This is the extreme example of a system that, critics say, protects offenders while abandoning victims. The question is not if fraud exists, but how many more adults must slip through before tests become standard.