{"id":72679,"date":"2026-08-19T15:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/72679\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:23:08","slug":"spain-says-it-must-comply-with-eu-rules-on-unaccompanied-minors-in-ceuta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/72679\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain Says It Must Comply With EU Rules on Unaccompanied Minors in Ceuta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Agadir \u2013 Spain must comply with European Union regulations on migration and asylum, including rules under the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, Spanish Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz said today, following the European Commission\u2019s position on the return of unaccompanied minors from Ceuta to Morocco.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Spanish public broadcaster RNE, Saiz said Spain must <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moroccoworldnews.com\/2026\/08\/335153\/european-commission-backs-return-of-unaccompanied-migrant-minors-from-ceuta-to-morocco\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">follow<\/a> \u201call community regulations\u201d governing migration and asylum, rather than relying solely on its national Immigration Law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI insist that we must comply not only with the regulations of the Immigration Law, but also with all the regulations concerning the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and all EU regulations,\u201d Saiz said, according to Spanish media.<\/p>\n<p>Her remarks came after the European Commission said Tuesday that migrants illegally residing in Ceuta should be returned to Morocco, including unaccompanied foreign minors who entered the Spanish enclave during the recent mass migration surge.<\/p>\n<p>Read also: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moroccoworldnews.com\/2026\/08\/335268\/spain-plans-transfer-of-500-unaccompanied-migrant-girls-from-ceuta-to-spain\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spain Plans Transfer of 500 Unaccompanied Migrant Girls From Ceuta to Spain<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Commission has also pointed to family reunification as a key principle in dealing with unaccompanied minors. EU rules provide safeguards for their return, including consideration of the child\u2019s best interests and the requirement that an unaccompanied minor be returned only to a family member, designated guardian, or adequate reception facility.<\/p>\n<p>Saiz said the Spanish government <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moroccoworldnews.com\/2026\/08\/335321\/unicef-reports-insecurity-unsanitary-conditions-migrant-children-face-in-ceuta\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">remains<\/a> in contact with the European Commission and is maintaining \u201cconstant dialogue\u201d with Morocco over the issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMorocco is a reliable partner, relations are good, and there is ongoing dialogue on this issue,\u201d she said, adding that the central question should be how any returns are carried out within a clear legal framework.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpain is not going to renounce international law,\u201d Saiz said.<\/p>\n<p>She stressed that Spain\u2019s legal system would continue to protect the \u201cbest interests of the child,\u201d regardless of the application of the new European migration framework.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have an Immigration Law, we have a new European framework, which is the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, and Spain will comply, as it has been doing, with the law that regulates this matter,\u201d Saiz said.<\/p>\n<p>The comments come amid continued scrutiny of Spain\u2019s handling of the thousands of migrants and unaccompanied minors who entered Ceuta during the mass crossings at the end of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Agadir \u2013 Spain must comply with European Union regulations on migration and asylum, including rules under the European&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3299,26721,3208,399,17],"class_list":["post-72679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-ceuta","tag-ceuta-migration","tag-elma-saiz","tag-morocco-and-spain","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}