At a meeting of Spain’s Sectorial Conference on Childhood in Madrid, Canary Islands social-welfare minister Candelaria Delgado confirmed that the long-awaited €100 million national fund to support unaccompanied migrant minors will finally be released “within 30–40 days”. Speaking after the 7 November session, Delgado welcomed the breakthrough but urged that financing be extended beyond a single fiscal year and scaled to cover children until they reach adulthood.
The archipelago currently shelters more than 4,500 minors after a sharp rise in Atlantic crossings; only 16 transfers to mainland regions have taken place since late August. Canarias joined several other autonomous communities in calling for multi-year pledges and additional staffing for overstretched sub-delegations of the central government and juvenile courts.
![Canary Islands press for larger share of €100 m fund for unaccompanied migrant minors]()
Under the revised Alien-Act framework approved in March, regions can no longer refuse relocations of minors from hotspots such as Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands. Madrid’s €100 million pot is meant to finance new reception places across Spain, but several interior regions argue the allocation formula is too narrow, while Castilla-La Mancha has already branded the amount “insufficient”.
For global-mobility managers moving staff to the islands, the debate matters because hotel rooms and rental housing are being requisitioned as emergency shelters, pushing up accommodation costs. Companies should also expect heightened public scrutiny of large-scale corporate relocations while the child-migration issue remains politically charged.
The archipelago currently shelters more than 4,500 minors after a sharp rise in Atlantic crossings; only 16 transfers to mainland regions have taken place since late August. Canarias joined several other autonomous communities in calling for multi-year pledges and additional staffing for overstretched sub-delegations of the central government and juvenile courts.
Under the revised Alien-Act framework approved in March, regions can no longer refuse relocations of minors from hotspots such as Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands. Madrid’s €100 million pot is meant to finance new reception places across Spain, but several interior regions argue the allocation formula is too narrow, while Castilla-La Mancha has already branded the amount “insufficient”.
For global-mobility managers moving staff to the islands, the debate matters because hotel rooms and rental housing are being requisitioned as emergency shelters, pushing up accommodation costs. Companies should also expect heightened public scrutiny of large-scale corporate relocations while the child-migration issue remains politically charged.
