The magistrate Joaquim Bosch (Cullera, 1965) speaks to ARA to explain the special protection of immigrant minors who are in Ceuta under the care of the Spanish authorities.

Eighteen days after the entry of tens of thousands of people from Morocco to Ceuta, the European Commission maintains its position on the future of migrants who remain in the autonomous city. The community executive has argued that all of them should be returned, including the more than two thousand minors who have entered without adult relatives and to whom community law and Spanish immigration law itself grant special protection. Brussels argues that European Union law also provides for them to be returned. "We continue to insist that the expectation is that all those who are irregularly in Ceuta will be returned," said the spokesman for the Internal Affairs commission, Markus Lammert, this Tuesday at a press conference.

The PP is already putting obstacles in the way of the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors in Ceuta. In the technical meeting with the Ministry of Childhood and Youth held this Thursday, it was agreed that the sectoral conference on childhood and adolescence to address this distribution among the autonomous communities would be held on August 27, but the Popular Party has refused to include on the agenda of this upcoming meeting an informational and debate point on, precisely, the care of these minors and their situation in Ceuta, according to ministry sources. Instead, the approval of an extraordinary credit of 25 million euros to expand resources for the care of minors would be voted on.

Marta Vergés is a lawyer specializing in minors, but she has two very clear red lines. The first is that she only represents minors whom she has to defend; she never brings accusations, because she says she feels "unable" to accuse a teenager. However, she never defends the same teenager twice. All the young people she helps know this condition, which she uses to encourage them not to reoffend: "When defending a minor, there is a very high degree of hope for social reintegration, and that is what I love about my job," she explains.

Court-appointed lawyers are receiving more attention, but precariousness means fewer and fewer professionals are willing to participate in this service. Across Catalonia, the exodus has been halved, coinciding with an agreement to improve remuneration, but the figures have not improved in the Barcelona demarcation, where the Bar Association of Barcelona (Icab) warns that the loss of professionals is 20% in the last decade. Xavier Batlle and Núria Astorgas are two of the professionals who have not wanted to abandon this task. Despite having the same job, they are court-appointed lawyers in two completely different specialities: minors, whose activity in Barcelona has increased by 10% in the last semester, and second chance, a mechanism that allows good-faith debtors to cancel their debts and which has grown by 23% in the last six months.

They called themselves Los 300, but there were many fewer. They posted videos singing songs about the strength of their group, lyrics that also sought to attract new members. They also published images of fights, assaults, weapons, and the symbolism that united them. They met in the squares and parks of Sant Martí, Sant Andreu, or Nou Barris, first to commit anti-social acts, but, over time, the level of violence increased, to the point of committing assaults with machetes or swords. They also dealt drugs to finance themselves as a group, imposing rules and tests to become one of them and recruiting minors to turn them into their executioners. Over the months, they became a youth gang, one of the most active in Barcelona.

Night of riots in Mataró. The Mossos d'Esquadra had already reinforced their uniformed presence in the Cerdanyola neighborhood of the capital of Maresme after an eviction this Tuesday ended with three minors arrested for throwing blunt objects, such as paving stones, at the police line. These actions against the police, however, were repeated at night, according to Mossos sources. A group of young people burned a dozen containers and threw stones and incendiary devices at the police. In total, the Mossos made five arrests, four of them minors.

The Olympic Village murderer earned this nickname the night he was celebrating his 18th birthday. A few hours made the difference between being tried as a minor or as an adult —as happened with the rest of those involved in the beating to death of a 24-year-old in a car park. It was April 1, 2000, and only four months had passed since the law on criminal responsibility of minors had been approved, with a less punitive model focused on education and reintegration. Now, this norm has once again faced pressure from the far-right and victims' families to increase criminal penalties for minors who commit extremely violent crimes, murders, or rapes.

Silvia Guerrero learned on August 21 that her son Juan had been stabbed that early morning in a fight in Tàrrega. He was 18 years old and was only a few months older than the sole accused of his death, who was 17. She still doesn't know when the trial for her son's death will be, and since then she has dedicated herself to demanding that the criminal consequences for minors be more severe and more similar to those assumed by adults. With the families of four victims, a month ago they presented 130,000 signatures in Congress to demand it. Juan's family has requested that the accused of killing him serve eight years of confinement, the maximum provided by law.

A 47-year-old man faces 15 years in prison for allegedly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in Vilanova i la Geltrú. The man was aware he had HIV and Hepatitis C and that he could transmit them to the girl, and at trial he asked to be acquitted, stating he believed the victim was "at least" 18 years old. The minor committed suicide eight months after the rape, and her statement, recorded while the case was being investigated, was used as evidence at trial. The prosecution pointed to her vulnerable victim status due to an autism spectrum disorder as an aggravating factor.

The Mossos d'Esquadra have located in Lloret de Mar a six-year-old minor who was registered as stolen by the French judicial authorities and who had been missing for months with her mother and maternal grandmother. The investigation began a year ago. The search was activated following the issuance of two European Arrest and Surrender Warrants (EASO) by the French authorities against the mother and grandmother, for an alleged crime of child abduction reported by the girl's father.

Sports betting, cards, and roulette are the most common forms of gambling among young Catalans, especially boys. In fact, it is increasingly common for secondary school students, that is, teenagers between 14 and 18 years old, to gamble. Last year, for example, 17% of students participated in in-person gambling, although the percentage among boys rises to 24.5% due to the marked gender gap observed in this practice. This is one of the key findings of the latest survey on drug use in secondary education (ESTUDES), conducted by the Catalan Health Department to understand the consumption habits and addictive behaviors of young Catalans.

In 2025, ten people disappeared every day. This statistic may be surprising, but it is repeated almost every year. This Monday, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) announced that 3,682 cases of missing persons were registered in Catalonia last year. "This figure highlights the importance of having a comprehensive response and providing support to families," the police force stated, emphasizing that 98% of cases are resolved successfully. The Mossos released this data to coincide with the International Day of Missing Persons. The figures are similar to those of previous years, although the increase in disappearances of young people, especially minors, and the elderly has been striking in the last 12 months. Only 2% of cases remain unsolved. The vast majority, according to the police, are voluntary disappearances. More than half are resolved within three days of the report being filed, and two out of three missing persons are located before the end of the first week. Although the problem affects thousands of families every year, disappearances only represent 0.6% of all reports received by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police).

A child remains hospitalized with serious injuries after falling from a hotel in Hospitalet de Llobregat on Sunday. The child, between five and six years old, fell approximately eight meters. He sustained multiple injuries and was initially unconscious, according to sources consulted by ARA, although no internal bleeding was detected. The incident occurred early Sunday morning, around 4:00 AM, at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower Hotel. His family was celebrating a wedding in the same building, and according to initial reports, the child went to play with another child in a designated area of ​​the hotel. At that moment, the child apparently lifted a grate covering a hole and fell. The Emergency Medical Services activated five ambulances, which treated and transported the child in critical condition to Sant Joan de Déu Hospital.

The Barcelona Prosecutor's Office has launched a specialized vulnerability unit, the first of its kind in Spain. Five prosecutors will handle cases where the victims are minors or vulnerable for other reasons, interpreting this concept broadly: they will address cases affecting children, the elderly, or people with disabilities, but also those involving "situational vulnerability," such as power imbalances or victims of serious crimes like sexual assault. The focus will be on preventing the revictimization of those affected.

The story of Jeffrey Epstein is not just that of a pedophile who ran a prostitution ring catering to wealthy men worldwide. It is also a story of money, politics, and above all, power. Epstein used sex to buy favors and influence, but also to obtain information and increase his fortune. The American magnate, who committed suicide in 2019 in a New York prison, had a network of accomplices who procured young models and minors for him. But he was also the mastermind behind the scheme. What did the wealthy men who came to him want? He provided it and opened the doors of the island to them. Little Saint James: a paradise in the Caribbean where he invited some of the most influential people on the planet and where some of these men assaulted and raped dozens of minors.

It was only a matter of time before the Spanish government announced restrictions on social media. This was foreshadowed by the interest in examples like Australia and, soon, France. The first spark of the debate on age restrictions ignited in the summer of 2024, with the controversy surrounding the consumption of pornographic content at very young ages. At that time, the government announced the Beta Digital Wallet, a digital passport that includes age verification—commonly known as pallaporte–. The restriction is also mentioned in the draft bill for the protection of minors in digital environments, which is currently being processed.

The High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has upheld the conviction of Xavier Padial, the confessed pedophile of Barberà del VallèsSentenced to 57 years in prison for repeatedly torturing and sexually abusing two of his cousins, both minors, and forcing one of them into prostitution. "We do not believe that the compensation awarded makes up for what the victims have suffered at the hands of the defendant, and much less that it is disproportionate," states the ruling, which ARA has accessed, and which confirms one of the highest compensations for sexual violence ever awarded by the State. The court awarded €80,000 to the other girl—who suffered abuse from the age of 6 or 7 and prostituted herself under his influence—and €80,000 to the third girl, who also suffered sexual abuse. The court thus rejected the appeal filed by Padial's defense, who also produced child pornography with material obtained from sexual encounters with Laura. "There is no disproportionality whatsoever. The facts are so serious, and their consequences so grave, that we can only agree with the court's decision," reads the document that upholds the sentence handed down in June 2025 by Section 21 of the Provincial Court of Barcelona. During the trial, held in October 2024, the prosecution held the defendant responsible for the "torture" that Laura suffered for 11 years. The harrowing account of the young woman, who testified when she was 23, and who had received threats and coercion, led the prosecution to conclude that Padial had completely "brainwashed" his cousin, turning her into "a toy in the defendant's hands." The victim recounted to the court how, before meeting with clients, her cousin, who was twice her age, would "prepare" and sexually abuse her: "I had to have sex with him to perform well with the clients."

The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) have arrested 11 young people for forming a criminal group that robbed victims they met through dating apps. Ten of those arrested are minors, and the eleventh is 18 years old. In fact, according to police sources, most of those involved were about to turn 18. They are accused of nine assaults, three of which were never reported. They employed a modus operandi Similar, but the violence they used escalated.

An attractive sum of money, a gift, or a favor in return only Sending an erotic photo or video to a stranger. 2.5% of young Spaniards say they received this type of offer at some point while they were minors. This means one in 40 young people. And 15% say they know of cases where minors have participated in such activities. Social media is increasingly filled with these lures and easy advertisements, websites and platforms that whitewash sexual exploitation and child pornography, prompting an alert from the NGO Save the Children.