El Gobierno y las CCAA aprueban la ayuda de 25 millones para la atención de menores migrantes en Ceuta

On Thursday, August 27, the Spanish government and autonomous communities approved an extraordinary credit of 25 million euros to address the needs of migrant minors in Ceuta. The Sectorial Conference on Childhood and Adolescence, which did not include Aragón, Extremadura, and Castilla and León, focused solely on the aid for Ceuta.

The 14 autonomous communities present approved the aid unanimously, according to sources from the Ministry of Youth and Childhood. Cataluña, Navarra, the Canary Islands, and Madrid attended in person, while the remaining autonomous communities participated remotely. Aragón, Extremadura, and Castilla and León sent letters on Tuesday and Wednesday requesting that they not attend the sectorial meeting, as they refused any distribution of funds from Ceuta to other parts of the national territory.

At a press conference following the meeting, Minister of Youth and Childhood Sira Rego criticized the decision of the president of Extremadura, María Guardiola; the president of Aragón, Jorge Azcáñ; and the president of Castilla and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, to abandon the conference. Rego stated that it was unfortunate that Feijóo had chosen Vox over Ceuta.

She explained that her intention was to submit a new point for discussion on the situation in Ceuta after the massive arrival of migrants on July 30. However, she acknowledged that it was not possible because all the autonomous communities should have participated in the meeting. Rego regretted that the PP had refused to include an informative point on Ceuta during the sectorial commission, prior to the sectorial conference.

She described it as a lost opportunity but promised that her department would convene another meeting to diagnose the situation and continue developing proposals. The urgency of the situation in Ceuta demanded that the city's needs be addressed, Rego emphasized. The PP also refused to debate an informative point and later criticized the lack of transparency for not being able to discuss the topic.

Rego implied that the Party would have to resolve this contradiction, as it had done many times before. The 25 million euro allocation will likely need to be increased, Rego admitted, as the ministry requested the habilitation of a budgetary provision on August 31. This request came hours after the massive influx of migrants into Ceuta, without real figures on the number of unaccompanied minors present in the Autonomous Community.

The ministry estimated 25 million euros, but it does not imply that it will be sufficient, Rego stated.