This is how the distribution of migrant minors is: the Canary Islands has capacity for 737 places

Andalusia, Catalonia, and Madrid are the regions with the highest ordinary capacity to protect unaccompanied migrant minors, and Navarre, Cantabria, and La Rioja, in addition to Ceuta and Melilla, have the least, according to the royal decree approved this Tuesday by the Government with the opposition of most autonomous communities.

The regulation endorsed by the Council of Ministers, which is the final step to implement the referral of unaccompanied migrant minors, sets the ordinary capacity of the reception systems at a ratio of 32.6 places per 100,000 inhabitants for the entire country.

According to the approved formula, Andalusia, with 2,827 places; Catalonia, with 2,650; and Madrid, with 2,325, are the regions with the highest ordinary capacity, ahead of the Valencian Community (1,767); Galicia (886), Castilla y León (783), Canary Islands (737), and Basque Country (731).

Next, Castilla-La Mancha (692); Murcia (517); Aragon (441); Balearic Islands (406); Extremadura (344); Asturias (331); Navarre (223); Cantabria (194); and La Rioja (107), in addition to Melilla and Ceuta, with 28 and 27 places, respectively.

Those with an occupancy that triples their ordinary reception capacity, such as the Canary Islands or Ceuta, must request the situation of migratory contingency, which will be declared by the Government, so that the minors in their territory are transferred to other communities.

The destination will be communities with less saturation in their resources. With the criteria set by the Government, which the PP rejects, most autonomous communities are hosting fewer migrant minors than they should based on population.

The ordinary capacity, along with the data of how many minors each autonomous community already hosts, is key to setting the calculation of transfers, which will be calculated taking into account parameters such as income, unemployment rate, prior effort, dispersion, or the situation of border city or insularity.

The royal decree represents, as expressed in a note by the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, "a turning point in the development of the binding, dignified, and solidarity reception process for unaccompanied migrant children arriving in our country"; thus, from this moment on, "everything is ready for the transfers to begin in accordance with the established protocol."

However, most communities reject the system, and, in fact, ten governed by the PP and that of Castilla-La Mancha (PSOE) have appealed this forced mechanism before the Constitutional Court. Madrid has gone to the Supreme Court, and the Balearic Islands have announced the same, which will appeal the latest decrees and ask to suspend the distribution as a precautionary measure.

This Tuesday, some have renewed their criticisms. Madrid has announced a new appeal and, like La Rioja, has denounced that its facilities are already saturated, while the president of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, has asked that his community be considered a border and has accused the Government of favoring the Basque Country and Catalonia.

Also, Castilla y León will appeal this regulation before the courts and has denounced that it is an "imposition" on the autonomous communities.

Likewise, the Valencian Community will request the precautionary suspension "of any regulation approved by the central Government" related to the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors among the autonomous communities, because, as of today, they have no information about these transfers.

The president of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, has criticized that the distribution is done without informing the autonomous communities. "We know absolutely nothing. Only Pedro Sánchez, the Government of Spain, and his partners, and the government of the Basque Country know," he said.

Galicia, for its part, claims to be a welcoming and supportive community, but alleges that it does not have the capacity to host more.

From the Canary Islands, they respond that if there are 'strained' communities that do not reach that capacity, they should have increased the number of places, as the islands have done, where they have had to open centers overnight to care for the hundred children who arrived on their coasts every day.

Navarre, governed by the PSOE, has indicated that despite being "strained," it will collaborate to help the Canary Islands and has attributed the implementation of this mandatory transfer to the fact that the autonomous communities managed by the PP "have been reluctant to collaborate in a voluntary manner."

Similarly, Asturias has criticized the rejection of the distribution among the autonomous communities, which are legally obliged to assume the reception; its president, Adrián Barbón, has criticized that it is "a matter of humanity, and when humanity is lost, everything is lost."

In Ceuta, meanwhile, they believe that the regulation will help alleviate the high pressure that the city is under.