Junts demands Catalonia be excluded from migrant children relocation

Junts demands that Catalonia be excluded from the relocation of minors from Ceuta

Last week's migration crisis in Ceuta has peine the most delicate negotiation of Spain's parliamentary term: the relocation of unaccompanied minors among the country's autonomous communities. On Tuesday, Junts' spokesperson in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, was categorical: "Junts will not give a single vote if Catalonia is NOT left OUT of the relocation." The message, posted on X and picked up by Europa Press, is not an isolated statement: last year the party already achieved "what no one had ever done before", getting Catalonia excluded from the transfers, and now it intends to repeat it.

The gamble is aimed directly at the parliamentary arithmetic. Junts needs the Government to stay relevant, but the Government needs Junts' votes for everything else. The warning comes after the party voted with the PP and Vox against mass regularisation and, according to reports, the Government responded by pushing it through by decree. The pattern repeats itself: pressure in Congress, an executive response, a new standoff.

There is a clear electoral reading. Nogueras has taken the opportunity to distance herself from Esquerra Republicana, which she accuses of having accepted, "as always and without resources", that Spain continued to abuse Catalans. In a political arena where migration has become a battleground, Junts is trying to cash in on its firmness against ERC's supposed pro-independence weakness.

Meanwhile, the budget agenda takes a back seat. The threat to withdraw support affects not only the minors from Ceuta: it conditions any future negotiation. The Government has not confirmed the relocation plan, and Junts has not specified how far its veto will go. The only certainty is that, in this parliamentary term, every autonomous community is a battleground and the numbers on reception are discussed less than the symbols.