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🇪🇸 Spain /Sports

PP pressure complicates transfer of 500 migrant girls from Ceuta to mainland Spain

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Spain's Ministry of Youth and Children proposed transferring about 500 migrant girls from overcrowded Ceuta to facilities on the mainland.
  • The plan has stalled amid a dispute over whether the available places have been formally documented and whether Ceuta or receiving regions must authorize the move.
  • The transfer requires the cooperation of Ceuta's Popular Party-led government, which has not yet signed the proposed arrangements.

A plan to move around 500 vulnerable migrant girls from Ceuta to mainland Spain has stalled amid a dispute that is technical on paper but political in practice.

The Ministry of Youth and Children, led by Sira Rego, publicly proposed the immediate transfer two weeks ago. The girls would be distributed among centers able to accommodate between 20 and 30 minors, under agreements with private organizations. The ministry says the places are available and that the option has been discussed in bilateral meetings.

500 places on the mainland have been made available and are already operational to transfer highly vulnerable girls.

· Sira RegoThe Youth and Children minister described the places that her department says are ready for the proposed transfer.

Ceuta officials say they have no written confirmation that the nonprofit organizations have those places. They also argue that such availability is not normally separate from the framework agreements signed by each autonomous community. The city has cited Article 18.4 of Spain's law on the legal protection of minors and a coordination protocol developed in 2015 for transfers between regions.

This would significantly help reduce tension and, of course, try to treat these girls in a humane way.

· Sira RegoRego argued that the transfer would ease pressure in Ceuta and improve the girls' treatment.

The dispute has placed Ceuta's Popular Party president, Juan Jesús Vivas, under pressure. The PP has made opposition to accepting migrant minors in its territories a central position during the migration crisis. Rego said on Thursday that “500 places on the mainland have been made available and are already operational to transfer highly vulnerable girls.” She added that the arrangement would significantly reduce tension and provide the girls with humane treatment.

Rego said the transfer now depends on the PP, which governs Ceuta, signing the agreement. Ceuta's authorities counter that the ministry presented the plan as a “working proposal” and promised to open talks with the regional governments. They also argue that the receiving community must authorize the agreement because the city has not received written proof of the private places. The ministry maintains that Ceuta, which has guardianship of the girls, has the authority to arrange their transfer with the receiving organizations.

working proposal

· Ceuta officialsCity authorities used this description for the ministry's plan and said it did not yet amount to a finalized transfer arrangement.
About this summary

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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