The Department of Social Rights attends today the sectoral conference between the Government and the autonomies to address the transfer to the peninsula of 380 migrant minors who have arrived on the Canary Islands with the aim of welcoming the young people that the Government estimates belong to Catalonia. But at the same time, the ministry will take advantage of the meeting to demand fair financing, an equitable distribution among all territories and will ask the Government to share information on migratory flows.
It has not yet been announced how many sub-Saharan minors will arrive in Catalonia, but the department of Carles Campuzano indicates that it is not only about this supervised distribution, but that there are concerns about those with a “migratory process unrelated to the distribution carried out by the Spanish State and that They arrive in Catalonia daily.” It is recalled that in 2023, more than 1,400 young people have arrived from other places without the Government reporting on the matter or providing the necessary financing.
The Government’s management with respect to minors is considered inoperative and this will be reported at the sectoral conference. A management, it is indicated, that for years has forgotten the financing of the host territories.
The Government emphasizes its intention to always respond to requests for reception as a defender of people’s rights. But the need to provide “resources, information and show co-responsibility” is insisted on. This will be transferred today to the Ministry of Social Rights, headed by Ione Belarra. In 2022, 2,400 young people will arrive in Catalonia.
The arrival of migrants, in this case adults, to the Canary Islands and their transfer to the peninsula has also caused friction in Calella, where on October 2 several buses arrived with 333 refugees, who stayed in hotels in the town. Mayor Marc Buch (JxCat) criticized the action “without prior” notice of the Red Cross, which did not warn of this massive arrival in the town.
Migrants have also been housed in Pineda de Mar and Salou. They are refugees who have requested political asylum and have been temporarily welcomed, according to the commitment made by the Spanish Government and the European Union, which is why the socialist mayors have not protested the lack of information.
Declared as a vulnerable group, they stay in hotels but do not have the same regime as regular clients. In Calella it is common to see them walking through the streets and some point out their desire to obtain a European residence permit to move to France, where they have family. Regarding their situation in Spain, they are grateful. “A glory” compared to where they come from, says Salah, who had been sleeping under the stars for weeks.
The mayor of Calella, a city that last year welcomed 2,000 Ukrainian refugees, recently met with the president of the Red Cross to express his disappointment. “Calella has always been a welcoming city, but there comes a time when the seams of the dress break if you want to fill them too much.” From the Maresme hotel sector they have also been critical of the haste and reception management.
