The number of unaccompanied migrant minors registered in Spain has increased by 221.4% in eight years and those registered in the Canary Islands by more than 3,000%. This is revealed by the Government in a parliamentary response to the deputies of the Popular Parliamentary Group, Isabel María Borrego Cortés and Ana Belén Vázquez Blanco, in which they ask the Executive what is the number of unaccompanied foreign minors in each autonomous community broken down by annuities and Community, from 2015 to the present.
Specifically, in the text, to which Europa Press has had access, the Government indicates that until October 31, 2023, there have been 10,738 registrations of unaccompanied minor migrants in Spain, compared to the 3,341 that were registered in all of 2015. , which means that the number of registrations has increased by 221.4% in eight years.
Likewise, through the data that has been shared, it is observed that 2018 was the year where the most unaccompanied minor migrants were registered, with 13,795, followed by 2019, with 12,417; 2022, with 11,417; 2023, which, with two months left, has 10,738; 2021, with 9,294; 2020, with 9,030; 2017, with 6,414; 2016, with 3,997; and 2015 with 3,341.
By community, the data from the Canary Islands stands out, which from 2015 (93) to October 2023 (3,030) have increased the registrations of unaccompanied minor migrants by 3,000%. The Canary Islands, which is at the head of the CCAA, is followed in 2023 by Andalusia, with 1,707 registrations; Catalonia, with 1,337; the Valencian Community, with 1,016; Madrid, with 849; Basque Country, with 677; Balearic Islands, with 319; Castilla y León, with 295; Melilla, with 276; Murcia, with 240; Ceuta, with 221; Galicia, with 209; Castilla-La Mancha, with 143; Navarra, with 133; Aragon, with 125; Asturias, with 64; Extremadura, with 53; Cantabria, with 34; and La Rioja, with 10.
On the other hand, La Rioja is the community that has registered the fewest unaccompanied minor migrants in recent years. In this sense, it has gone from five registered in 2016 to ten in 2023. However, the years in which it had the most registrations were 2020 and 2021, with 11 in both.
Finally, the Government emphasizes in the document that “the inclusion of minors’ data in the MENA Registry is carried out for exclusive identification purposes, in accordance with the provisions of article 215 of Royal Decree 557/2011, of April 20, by which approves the Regulation of Organic Law 4/200, on the Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners in Spain and their Social Integration, with the aforementioned Registry coordinated by the State Attorney General’s Office as the guarantor and protector of the best interests of the minor.” .