How affluent Moroccan families use Spain as a "free boarding school

They arrive with the latest iPhone models and designer clothes. Far from fleeing poverty, these teenagers follow a well-rehearsed scenario: presenting themselves at a police station and declaring "I am an unaccompanied minor... help me". According to El Mundo, these families, often composed of entrepreneurs or university professors, use the Spanish social services as a veritable free boarding school for their children.

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Police operations, such as "Zaugarria" in the Basque Country or "AME" in Catalonia, reveal the scale of the system. In Tarragona, 124 suspicious cases have been identified, representing a loss of 1.58 million euros for the administration. In an emblematic case, a Moroccan teacher was arrested after knowingly leaving his two sons in centers in San Sebastián, while making regular visits from Morocco.

The objective of this maneuver is to obtain free education, specialized care, and then legal residence to facilitate a subsequent family reunification. To enter the territory, parents use Schengen visas obtained thanks to their high economic capacity. "There are cases of parents waiting for their children in hotels or Airbnb-type accommodations," the investigators specify.

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The phenomenon is now spreading to Madrid and Andalusia. In the capital, 67 false minors have already been confirmed for the period 2025-2026, leading to complaints of aggravated fraud against families improperly using public resources. This massive fraud diverts crucial resources intended for genuinely vulnerable minors, transforming the reception centers into "high-end daycare centers" for a foreign elite.