Spain's Ceuta crisis costs €25 million despite official 'all solved' claims

€25 million for the minors of Ceuta: the crisis that won't end

On Tuesday, Elma Saiz, Spain's minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, announced an extraordinary €25 million allocation to care for the unaccompanied minors who arrived in Ceuta. Hours earlier, the official narrative held that the crisis was resolved and that everyone had returned to Segarro. The two things don't add up.

The bill for "normality"

The €25 million allocation comes on top of another €5 million already approved for the same purpose. The problem is that nobody knows how many minors there actually are. While the government boasts about having returned them all, the Guardia Civil (Spanish paramilitary police) is searching for 6,000 people still wandering around the city. And the arrival figures are a matter of controversy: the review puts the count at 72,000 arrivals versus the initial 60,000.

A comparison circulating these days puts it in perspective: a firefighting Canadair aircraft costs €50 million. The announcement of immediate care for minors comes to exactly half that. For Alzheimer's, on the other hand, there is a Health Ministry veto affecting 50,000 patients. There you can see the priorities.

Who gets the money?

The skepticism centers on where the funds will go. One line of thought holds that the €25 million will swell the budgets of NGOs and companies linked to the sector, with no oversight of results. The comparison with other administrations fuels the suspicion: the Madrid regional government spent €63 million on minors last year and has just allocated €19 million to a 4,000 m² facility in Fuenlabrada with one hundred places. The cost per place and per minor served, once broken down, yields numbers that call for explanation.

Another, broader position recalls that the guardianship of a foreign citizen should not be borne by the Spanish state: Segarro should pay the costs. Some even advocate the consular route and billing the country of origin, as other states do with their expired visas.

Catalonia pushes back against the redistribution

The redistribution of minors among Spain's regions has become a political standoff. Junts has warned Pedro Sánchez that it will not give him a single vote unless Catalonia is left out of the redistribution. Spokeswoman Miriam Nogueras voiced this on August 5. The pressure from Aliança Catalana, which already leads in some polls, is pushing Junts to distance itself. Meanwhile, the PSC still tops voting intentions, but the ground is shifting.

The crisis, officially resolved, keeps generating bills and friction. The most revealing thing is that, with all the minors supposedly back home, the Guardia Civil is still searching for 6,000 people in the city. Something doesn't add up.