PP communities rebel against the distribution of migrant minors

The autonomous communities led by the People's Party (PP) came out in force after the figures for the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors crammed into the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, which were released on Friday, were revealed. Some autonomous communities consider the distribution figures finalized by the Ministry of Youth and Children to be "imposed" and call the measure "unconstitutional." They also attribute the distribution criteria, by which Catalonia and the Basque Country are excluded, to partisan interests to "keep Sánchez in power."

"The Ministry is once again concocting subjective criteria to exclude the Basque Country and Catalonia from the illegal distribution of minors, based solely on criteria aimed at rescuing the Sánchez regime," said Ana Dávila, Minister of Family, Youth, and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid. According to calculations, Madrid will be the autonomous region with the second largest number of migrant minors, 647 (behind Andalusia, with 677), and will receive more than €15 million to cover the costs. This is considered "insufficient" and "unconstitutional," in line with the appeals filed with the Constitutional Court by the autonomous regions led by the People's Party (PP), as well as by Castilla-La Mancha, governed by the Socialist Emiliano García-Page.

The regions consider that the distribution responds to partisan interests and is unconstitutional.

The Valencian Community, which has the third largest number of minors to host (571), described the distribution of migrants as an "imposition" and pointed out that the central government "is trading in minors to continue resisting at its moment of greatest weakness, cornered by corruption." In its view, the figures represent "institutional blackmail disguised as solidarity," which "does not aim to solve the immigration problem or the humanitarian crisis in the Canary Islands," but rather "to keep Sánchez in power." For this reason, the Generalitat (Catalan government) announced that "we will fight with all our resources to ensure that this disgraceful act by Sánchez against unaccompanied minors does not continue."

He also rebelled against a distribution that he described as "unfair and arbitrary" by the Xunta de Galicia (it has been granted 317 transfers). He criticized the decision to push through this relocation "without consensus and without planning," "renouncing dialogue and negotiation" with the regional governments in order to "reach an agreement with Puigdemont and his partners." The Government of Aragon considers it "unfeasible" to accommodate the 251 foreign minors assigned and considered the announced resources to cover the expenses arising from the reception "insufficient." "This biased leak of documentation, prior to Tuesday's Sectoral Conference, is a political maneuver to cover up Sánchez's scandals," added sources from the Aragonese government.

Read also Catalonia is excluded from the mandatory distribution of migrant minors and Madrid must take in 647 Joaquín Vera

Cantabria's Minister for Social Inclusion, Begoña Gómez del Río, also criticized the fact that the distribution was carried out "without prior notice" and "forcing" the application of a "legally questionable" Royal Decree.

The Region of Murcia, which also called the distribution "unconstitutional," believes the funding "is ridiculous, paltry, and insufficient to provide dignified care for children." Vox is closely monitoring the distribution of migrants in Murcia and has threatened Fernando López Miras's administration with not approving the budget if the region accepts the distribution imposed by the central government.

Balearic Islander Marga Prohens believes that "the Sánchez government is laughing at us."

Balearic Islander Marga Prohens, whose community will host 49 migrants, expressed on social media that "the Sánchez government is laughing at us" because "the Ministry itself recognizes the overcrowding of the reception centers on the islands and yet still expects us to continue hosting them." Prohens insisted that they will not take in a single minor from other communities and, like other autonomous communities, "we will use all means at our disposal to prevent this from happening."

For her part, the Basque Minister of Welfare and Youth, Nerea Melgosa, stated that the exclusion of the Basque Country from the distribution of minors recognizes the "efforts" made to date by this region and by Catalonia, which will also not be required to host any migrants. Despite this, the Catalan government announced its intention to care for at least the same number of migrants as in previous campaigns: 31. Once the transfers are completed, Catalonia will be the region with the largest number of young people in its system, with a significant difference compared to the others.