Official figures show that 11,174 unaccompanied minors were registered from January until the end of September — up from 6,414 in all of 2017. Spain has seen growing numbers of migrants after Italy began to stem the flow of sea arrivals from Libya last year. According to local figures, there are over 3,000 unaccompanied minors in Catalonia. The number is three times higher than that recorded by the Interior Ministry, highlighting the difficulty in keeping track of the young migrants, some of whom run away from the shelters they’re assigned to. Spain has adopted a more welcoming attitude toward migrants than many other European countries under the center-left government that took power this year.

Source: Egypt Independent December 11, 2018 15:00 UTC