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Paper short abstract

The Canary Islands migration route has exposed tensions in Spain’s care of unaccompanied minors, marked by saturation, age disputes, and uneven redistribution. Ethnography shows how youth—especially age disputed— sometimes depend on activist networks to navigate legal gaps and seek protection.

Paper long abstract

Since 2020, arrivals via unauthorized maritime routes from West Africa to the Canary Islands have been framed as a migration crisis, prompting emergency governance strategies based on deterrence, large-scale encampment for adult men, and specific resources for women and unaccompanied minors. While most adults were transferred to mainland Spain or continued toward continental Europe, unaccompanied minors remained legally confined to the islands, as the first autonomous community of arrival is required to assume their guardianship. This prolonged saturation generated multiple challenges: age assessment disputes and misidentifications, precarious and under-supervised facilities, and abrupt transitions when minors turned 18. In 2025, new regulations mandating interregional redistribution sought to ease pressure on the Canary Islands but triggered political conflict and uneven implementation across autonomous communities.

This paper analyzes the governance of unaccompanied foreign minors in Spain within this evolving landscape, highlighting the Canary route as a key locus where the tensions of the European (im)mobility regime become visible. It examines everyday practices of accompaniment that have emerged in response to institutional shortcomings, led by local organizations and activist networks that compensate for gaps in public social services and major humanitarian agencies.

Drawing on ethnographic engagement with young unauthorized migrants who arrived through the Canary route, the paper focuses particularly on “non recognized” minors facing age disputes. It explores their legal struggles, the consequences of being classified as adults without enforceable rights, and the crucial role of activist and informal networks in securing protection, mobility, and pathways toward more stable futures.