ERC mayor in Spain charged €8,000 a day to house migrant children
ERC mayor Blanca Arbell reportedly received 8,000 euros a day, 2.9 million a year, for housing 50 children in a family shelter in Spain.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The fostering business: an ERC mayor charged 8,000 euros a day
The Ceuta crisis of August 2026 left around 1,500 unaccompanied foreign minors in Spain and peine an uncomfortable question: who is making money from child fostering? The answer that stings comes from Canet de Mar. Blanca Arbell, mayor for ERC (a Catalan pro-independence party), reportedly received up to 8,000 euros a day for housing some fifty children in a family shelter, under a contract awarded by her own party, according to e-noticies.cat and gaceta.es.
The numbers in the Arbell case
The figure, repeated with disbelief: 8,000 euros a day, 2.9 million a year, for 50 children. In other words, 160 euros per child per day. On 17 August 2026 the case returned to the headlines amid the debate over the system's saturation.
The business of solidarity
The episode has peine the discussion over how far private funding of the system should go. Some argue that fostering has become a business run on public money, with hand-picked contracts and uncontrolled prices. Others argue that the system is overwhelmed and needs to rely on private shelters, but that auditing is lacking.
No one has yet explained why a small municipality pays 2.9 million for a family shelter. That is the detail that doesn't add up.
The Ceuta crisis of August 2026 left around 1,500 unaccompanied foreign minors in Spain and peine an uncomfortable question: who is making money from child fostering? The answer that stings comes from Canet de Mar. Blanca Arbell, mayor for ERC (a Catalan pro-independence party), reportedly received up to 8,000 euros a day for housing some fifty children in a family shelter, under a contract awarded by her own party, according to e-noticies.cat and gaceta.es.
The numbers in the Arbell case
The figure, repeated with disbelief: 8,000 euros a day, 2.9 million a year, for 50 children. In other words, 160 euros per child per day. On 17 August 2026 the case returned to the headlines amid the debate over the system's saturation.
The business of solidarity
The episode has peine the discussion over how far private funding of the system should go. Some argue that fostering has become a business run on public money, with hand-picked contracts and uncontrolled prices. Others argue that the system is overwhelmed and needs to rely on private shelters, but that auditing is lacking.
No one has yet explained why a small municipality pays 2.9 million for a family shelter. That is the detail that doesn't add up.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (11 replies).
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