The Basque Lehendakari Imanol Pradales on 27 August 2026 in Donostia-San Sebastián criticised the Spanish government’s response to the latest migration crisis in Ceuta as being in clear need of improvement. He also complained that the European Union had largely withdrawn from the situation. Following the first meeting of the Basque government’s Council of Ministers after the summer recess, Pradales called for a cross-party response and warned against political exploitation.
After the meeting at the Palacio MiramarPradales said that the Basque reception system for unaccompanied minors was currently under severe strain and operating above its planned capacity. He gave no specific current occupancy figures. He announced that bilateral talks between the Basque government and Madrid on powers and resources would continue next week. His call for a “response from the state” was explicitly addressed to both Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
The background is a sharp rise in arrivals in Ceuta in recent weeks, which has prompted secondary redistribution within Spain and pushed several autonomous regions to their capacity limits. According to consistent media reports, other regions, including the Comunidad de Madrid and the Valencian Community, have also highlighted pressures and in some cases rejected additional allocations. In Euskadi, the regional government is calling for closer coordination with the central government and neighbouring countries to ease bottlenecks at border crossings in the north.
The Lehendakari’s choice of words addresses two levels: in the short term, the aim is to provide additional places, staff and funding for child and youth services so that protection standards can be maintained. In the medium term, Pradales is calling for a reliable legal and financial framework for the distribution of people seeking protection that takes regional circumstances into account, including border location and transit traffic. He links his criticism of the European Union to the expectation that Brussels will coordinate responses in emergencies and support member states in accommodating minors.
The statements were made at a press briefing after the Council of Ministers; relevant passages were reported by regional media and in recordings of the Gobierno Vasco ’s events. Sources within the Basque government also say that the outstanding transfers of powers between Madrid and Vitoria-Gasteiz – independent of the current situation – are to remain a priority on the political agenda this autumn.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).