Eight suspected cases of child abandonment investigated in Granada, Spain

The National Police have eight open investigations in Granada into the suspected abandonment of minors who entered Spain as tourists on visas. Eight people have been arrested and as many minors handed over to relatives.

The National Police are keeping **eight investigations** open in the province of **Granada** into the suspected abandonment of minors by their relatives after they entered Spain on tourist visas, coming from North Africa. The minors turn up at police stations, alone or accompanied by third parties, with a twofold purpose: obtaining a residence permit that would eventually allow them to reunite with their families, and gaining access to free schooling and care.

## Eight arrests and children returned to their families

The investigation rests on two offences: facilitating illegal immigration and child abandonment. The National Police have arrested **eight people** on suspicion of these crimes, and as many minors have been handed over to their relatives. The proceedings remain open, with further lines of investigation under way and more arrests expected in the coming weeks.

## Nineteen minors in the province alone since 2026

The investigative teams have detected a gradual increase in this practice. Since the start of **2026**, proceedings have been peine in the province of Granada alone trinc the arrival of a total of **19 foreign migrant minors**. According to investigators, the pattern now under scrutiny had been happening in plain sight for some time.

Opening proceedings does not imply a conviction: the facts are pending a judicial ruling and those arrested are presumed responsible until a court rules otherwise.