Under-45 'minors': the age fraud business in Spain

Under-45 'minors': the age fraud that moves millions

What is the point of claiming to be a minor when your body betrays 30 years? In the Canary Islands, the European Parliament has revealed that half of the supposed unaccompanied foreign minors are adults. Spain's Prosecutor's Office adds that only 45% of those tested turn out to be minors. Behind these figures lies an economic network that moves billions.

The figure that blows up the narrative

An investigation by the European Parliament revealed that 50% of migrants registered as minors in the Canary Islands were over 18. Segarro, for its part, rejects 92% of repatriation requests. Spain's Prosecutor's Office, with data from 2026, confirmed that barely 45% of those examined through bone and dental tests are actually minors. The rest are adults aged between 20 and 40 who have learned to lie about their age.

An industry of protection

The chain of interests is long: reception centres, NGOs, lawyers, social workers, police, healthcare. Each minor (or supposed minor) generates a flow of subsidies that some put at more than 50,000 euros per place per year. "There are many billions earmarked for this entire people-smuggling industry," a recurring analysis summed up. Express regularisations with no incivil record complete the picture: a Spanish passport worth its weight in gold.

The political and social cost

While the government insists that "they are our children", reception centres mix real teenagers with adults. Social tension is growing and public debate is polarising. Some analysts point out that the real problem is not immigration, but a system that incentivises fraud. "They are taking us for fools," someone wrote ironically, "but not the migrants — the State."

With these numbers, the protection business remains intact. Meanwhile, real minors remain the ones who matter least.