30 in Catalonia and more than 700 in Madrid: this is how migrant minors will be distributed under the PSOE-Juntos pact.

Madrid / BarcelonaA year ago, Junts (Juntos) blocked the reform of the immigration law to make it mandatory for regional governments to accept unaccompanied minor migrants, who mainly arrive in the Canary Islands. The Spanish government, which has already reached an agreement with Junts to delegate immigration powers to the Generalitat (Catalan government), knew who it would convince, and this Tuesday's decision was made clear by the royal decree approved by the Council of Ministers after the meeting. days of negotiations. Junts announced the agreement before the Moncloa and emphasized that the efforts made so far in welcoming some autonomous regions would be taken into account: Catalonia, one of the regions that has received the most minors, must now take in between 20 and 30, and Madrid will receive more than 700. Ministers through a decree law that reforms the immigration law and, according to the Catalan party, will introduce "fair and equitable" criteria for the distribution. With Junts validating it, the decree will almost certainly be validated within a month, and that is when the distribution will take place. Opposition from the Spanish and Catalan right is what had so far blocked the legal reform, which was defeated in the lower house in July of last year.

The Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, explained in a press conference that the distribution criteria are "transparent" and that they are the same parameters that have guided the sectoral conference on children and adolescents in recent years when deciding to distribute unaccompanied minors among the regions. Among other factors, the following influence the population (50%), the unemployment rate (15%), the GDP (13%), and the economic effort of the community in hosting (6%), the size of the accommodation system (10%), border city (2%), insularity (2%), and dispersion (2%). Currently, it is estimated that there are approximately 4,400 people who must be distributed among the territories. The regional council members estimated that in Catalonia "between 20 and 30" should arrive, while in Madrid it would be more than 700. The Moncloa does not confirm these figures because it emphasizes that by March 31, the regions must send a certified report with the number of migrant minors they currently host in order to take a real picture.

According to the information you have published Eldiario.es Based on recent data from the Ministry of Youth and Children, the Spanish government is working with the idea that Madrid will be the region that has to host the most migrants, up to 806, followed by Andalusia (795) and the Valencian Community (478). On the other hand, among the territories that should host the fewest are the Basque Country (88), the Balearic Islands (59), and Catalonia (27), which would be at the bottom of the list. The Spanish government emphasizes, however, that the data is not definitive.

The distribution between regions will be made when a "migratory contingency" situation is declared, which, according to the decree, will occur when a territory has a number of migrant minors three times higher than the ordinary capacity. It will be calculated as follows: the total population in the State will be divided by the total number of migrant minors to be hosted. The resulting figure would be divided by the total population of a region. When a migration contingency situation arises—as is currently happening in the Canary Islands and Ceuta—mechanisms will be activated to distribute people to the other autonomous communities. When a community takes in more people than it initially has places, it will receive funding from the Spanish government. The royal decree approved this Tuesday includes a €100 million grant for this year.

Junts has highlighted this "adequate financial compensation" that the agreement provides for the autonomous communities that "have been above the average number of structural places they should have," as is the case in Catalonia. The Generalitat now has around 2,400 unaccompanied migrant minors under its care. and is the third largest host country, behind Andalusia (2,600) and the Canary Islands (5,790). The Catalan government, like the Moncloa government, has avoided providing figures on the distribution, although it has guaranteed that it will deploy the necessary resources to accommodate and integrate the quota of young people arriving in Catalonia as a result of the distribution. "Beyond data and numbers, let's talk about people," warned spokesperson Sílvia Paneque. In this regard, she guaranteed that the government will address the issue with a "humanist" and not a "mercantilist" vision, in line with Catalonia's tradition as a land "of solidarity values."

The agreement comes after the PSOE and Junts also agreed a few weeks ago to delegate powers over immigration to Catalonia and will now have to overcome the reluctance expressed by a part of the plurinational majority in Congress (starting with Podemos). Together argues that this law should make Catalan "essential" for migrants arriving in the country and decide on CIE (individual immigration detention centers). The Spanish government downplays this and further emphasizes that decisions on irregular migration flows will continue to be the responsibility of the State.

Mandatory distribution?

In principle, the regions are required to provide information about their current situation and, subsequently, to accept the distribution (if they do not want to break the law). Initially, some PP presidents have already expressed their opposition, starting with Carlos Mazón. The Valencian president has pledged with Vox not to accept any more migrant minors in exchange for their votes. in the budgets with which he tries to save himself politically, despite the disastrous management of the DANA (National Action Plan for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women). The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced that this "regrettable agreement" between Juntos and the PSOE "will be taken to the courts and the EU" and denounced that "mass irregular immigration cannot be encouraged." PP sources reported that the autonomous communities will oppose the reception of migrant minors if it is not accompanied by financial resources from the Spanish government, although their spokesperson in Congress, Miguel Tellado, emphasized that his party will not break the law.

In fact, the PP's position on the distribution of migrant minors was what motivated, in the summer, Vox's departure from the regional executives it shared with the Popular Party. The far right considered Alberto Núñez Feijóo's position to be too soft. This Tuesday, the leader of Vox in Catalonia, Ignacio Garriga, made it clear that they do not support the new pact between Junts and the PSOE: "Distributing illegal immigrants instead of repatriating them to their families will exacerbate the collapse of healthcare and insecurity."