Vox vice presidents in three Spanish regions boycott child welfare meeting, demand Ceuta migrant minors be returned to Morocco

Boycott of the August 13 commission

The vice presidents of Vox in three Spanish autonomous communities have sent separate letters to Youth and Childhood Minister Sira Rego announcing they will not attend the Sectoral Commission on Childhood and Adolescence scheduled for August 13. Óscar Fernández (Extremadura), Carlos Pollán (Castilla y León) and Alejandro Nolasco (Aragón) informed Rego of their absence from the meeting, which is set to address the situation of unaccompanied migrant minors in Ceuta following the mass border crossings of July 30 and 31, 2026. The three officials also reject any plan to transfer the minors to other autonomous communities.

The letters complain that the ministry's convocation contains no mention of what Vox calls the "gravísimos hechos" (gravest events) in Ceuta on those two days, when the mass entry of migrants, in Vox's words, "forzaron nuestra frontera poniendo en serio riesgo la Seguridad Nacional, el Orden Público y la integridad de los españoles" (forced our border, putting National Security, Public Order and the integrity of Spaniards at serious risk). They also protest that the convocation does not address the central government's responsibility to secure the border or what they describe as Morocco's formal offer to take charge of all the minors.

Demands and legal arguments

According to La Vanguardia, 1,342 unaccompanied minors are officially registered in Ceuta as of the reporting date. The three Vox vice presidents demand that no minor be transferred to another region until individualized legal procedures, which they say are legally required, have been completed. They insist on receiving the complete file and certification of the administrative situation of each minor whose transfer is proposed. The letters announce that the three Vox-led regional governments will "impugnarán judicialmente todo expediente que no finalice con el retorno a Marruecos" (judicially challenge every procedure that does not end with return to Morocco).

Vox grounds its position in what it calls the "strict" compliance with national and international law and the principle of the best interests of the child, which it says imposes family reunification and return to the country of origin. The letters cite a Supreme Court ruling that, according to Vox, requires individualized assessment and excludes automatic or collective action. They argue that redistributing the minors across Spain makes it harder for parents to locate them, delays return procedures, and harms the child.

Castilla y León's position and the €25 million agenda item

The letter from Castilla y León, signed by Carlos Pollán in his capacity as first vice president and counsellor of Desregulation, Family and Social Aid, states that the decision "no responde a razones de oportunidad política" (does not respond to reasons of political opportunity) but to strict legal compliance. Pollán writes that the central government has not correctly exercised its exclusive competence by resolving the individualized return and reunification procedures, and therefore "carece de fundamento trasladar a los menores a otra comunidad autónoma" (it lacks basis to transfer the minors to another autonomous community to bear the consequences of a state competence not yet exercised or concluded).

The August 13 meeting also includes elevating to a Sectoral Conference the agenda item for approving a territorial distribution agreement with the autonomous city of Ceuta, allocating €25 million in 2026 funding for the care of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents. The Junta de Castilla y León maintains that all minors who entered Ceuta did so illegally by crossing the Morocco-Spain border and should be returned to Morocco via family reunification and transfer to Moroccan guardianship authorities, without exception, following the required procedures. The letters note that Morocco has been classified as a safe country by the Council and the European Parliament and that its government has expressed willingness to recover its nationals currently on Spanish soil.