The Canary Islands Government has announced the closure of two migrant youth centres in Fuerteventura as the number of unaccompanied migrant minors arriving in the archipelago continues to drop.

The centres, located in Ayagaures and Ancor, will close on 1st July, marking the first significant reduction in the emergency accommodation network that expanded rapidly during the migration crisis of recent years.

Regional officials say the decision reflects a sharp decrease in pressure on the system following the transfer of thousands of migrant minors to mainland Spain and a reduction in new arrivals to the islands.

According to the Canary Islands Department of Social Welfare, the Ayagaures centre currently houses just nine minors despite having capacity for 24, while the Ancor facility accommodates 16 young people in a centre designed for 25.

The regional government says it is reorganising resources to improve efficiency and reduce spending on underused facilities.

Transfers to Mainland Spain

The closures come more than a year after reforms to Spain's Immigration Law introduced a system for the redistribution of unaccompanied migrant minors across the different regions of Spain.

Speaking during a visit to Lanzarote this week, Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego said that around 2,000 transfer cases involving migrant minors from the Canary Islands, had already been processed without incident.

She also noted that approximately 1,000 international protection cases had been resolved.

According to the minister, the number of migrant minors currently under the care of the Canary Islands authorities is now roughly a quarter of the figure recorded before the legal reforms were introduced.

Additional Funding Announced

Meanwhile, the Spanish Government has announced additional financial support for regions managing unaccompanied migrant minors.

Minister Rego confirmed that a Sectoral Conference scheduled for mid-July will distribute €35 million among the regions dealing with high levels of migrant arrivals.

Of that total, the Canary Islands will receive an additional €4 million, on top of the €140 million already allocated by the central government for migrant reception and care policies in the archipelago.

"The situation in the Canary Islands has changed dramatically," Rego said. "The reception system has been substantially relieved, it offers far greater guarantees than it did a year ago, and many children are now able to continue their lives in places where their rights are fully protected."

The closure of the two Fuerteventura centres is expected to be the first step in a wider reorganisation of the Canary Islands' migrant youth accommodation network as occupancy levels continue to fall.