Overview
- Policía Nacional and the Ertzaintza are examining at least twenty suspected cases of parents from the Maghreb leaving children to enter regional protection systems, with many inquiries focused in Álava.
- A 54-year-old Algerian man was detained on suspicion of abandoning his son after returning to visit the boy at the Uba minors’ center in San Sebastián.
- Investigators say the minor entered Spain via Alicante airport in May, then traveled with his father to Bilbao and on to San Sebastián before being left in care.
- Staff at the Uba center alerted the Gipuzkoa immigration brigade on October 8 after two people presented themselves as relatives and then left before officers arrived.
- Regional and national authorities report ongoing arrests and case tracing, with six parents detained to date as they map routes and potential intermediaries involved.