Spain's Bizkaia receives over two migrant minors a day

Bizkaia has declared a state of exceptionality in its reception system due to the continuous arrival of unaccompanied foreign minors, exceeding available places and forcing it to offer only shelter and food.

That things are getting ugly is an understatement. The reception system for unaccompanied foreign minors in **Bizkaia** is overflowing, to the point that the **Foral Council (provincial government)** has had to declare a state of exceptionality once again. This is nothing new: they went through it between December 2024 and last June, and now, almost a year later, the situation is repeating itself. The reason is simple: more boys and girls are arriving than the 17 centres they have set up can hold.

## The reception network is at breaking point

The current figure is **594** unaccompanied foreign minors in care, representing an occupancy rate of almost **50%** above capacity, as the available places total **406**. Looking back, the situation is almost identical to the one that triggered the first declaration of exceptionality nearly two years ago, when **602** minors were being housed. The problem is not a one-off spike but a constant trickle. Between June and August this year, the arrival of new minors exceeded **2 per day**. Regardless of the month or the season, the reality is the same: the reception network is stretched to the limit.

The migration crisis of the past decade already posed a first major challenge for **Bizkaia**. Between 2018 and 2019, it housed between **500 and 600** minors at a time, forcing the centres to expand. During the pandemic, the flow dropped, but it soon picked up again. By September 2023, the centres were already showing signs of saturation, with **310** minors in care and only **287** places available. Since then, the figures have only gone up. Public spending has trinc the same path, exceeding **30 million** euros last year to fund the guardianship system, a figure expected to be similar this year.

## A changing discourse

The rise in arrivals and the required investment have prompted a shift in the Foral Council's discourse. They have moved from an almost opaque management style to putting the overcrowding of the centres at the heart of the political debate. Two years ago, the head of the provincial government was already warning that the centres "can take no more". The message is repeated: "There is no control, minors are arriving here who should be under guardianship in other regions", lamented the councillor for Social Action a few months ago.

Besides blaming other regions, especially those governed by the PP, for failing to take in an adequate number of minors or facilitate their transfer, they also criticise the central government for not better organising and controlling the distribution. **Euskadi**, along with **Catalonia**, was exempted from the distribution of minors who arrived in the Canary Islands last summer, partly due to pressure from the PNV and the saturation of its centres. Now, another distribution of minors still staying in shelters in **Ceuta** is expected, and although it is unknown how many will reach Euskadi, **Bizkaia** is on standby.

## Pull effect or incivil networks?

Beyond the distribution of minors, there are other reasons explaining the saturation of the centres. Some voices point to a possible "pull effect" of the Basque social protection model. However, the provincial authorities prefer to focus on other factors. One of them is the "incivil networks" which, according to the head of the provincial government herself, bring minors into the territory from other parts of Spain. Another worrying issue is the detection of families abandoning their children so that they come under public guardianship, with several arrests already made, some of them of Maghrebi origin who travelled from Europe.

There is also suspicion that adults are posing as minors in order to be taken into care. The territorial government has repeatedly asked the Public Prosecutor's Office to step up age assessments, estimating that up to **20%** of those in care could be over 18.

## A questioned protocol

Against this backdrop, the Foral Governing Council has reactivated the state of exceptionality. It is doing so, moreover, against the opinion of the **Ararteko**, the Basque Ombudsman. In a ruling issued this very year, the Ararteko criticised the provincial administration for offering only basic care at the **El Vivero** centre, peine temporarily to ease the overcrowding. According to the Ararteko, the provincial protocol cannot be limited to "bed and board", since the fact that they are minors and are in a situation of abandonment requires special protection. By invoking the state of collapse, the Foral Council would be abusa this protection, setting aside measures such as educational training or help to regularise their status, which cease to be mandatory during the state of exceptionality.