Care for unaccompanied foreign minors (‘menas‘) under the guardianship of the Consell Insular de Ibiza will cost 6,374,592 euros per year in 2026, which represents 61.5% of the total budget for minors in this situation.
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The B-side of Pedro Sánchez’s abandonment: ‘menas’ in a townhouse with swimming pool in a luxury area of Ibiza
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The Consell de Ibiza justifies the installation of ‘menas’ centers in residential apartments: “We are 337.5% above occupancy”.
This has been confirmed by the insular institution to La Voz de Ibizawhich currently manages a total of 202 minors, of which 104 are ‘menas’. These figures could increase according to the migratory wave that affects both Ibiza and Formentera.
The overall budget foreseen by the Department of Social Welfare for the care of minors in its charge amounts to 10,348,821.47 euros, a figure that represents an increase of 15.43% over the previous year.
The specific allocation for ‘menas’, according to calculations derived from public contracts and the cost per place, represents an average of 61,294 euros per minor per year. That is, 5,107 euros per month, although there are notable differences depending on the management model.
3.4 million for the 32 ‘menas’ under the tutelage of the SAMU Foundation
Faced with the saturation of the system, the Consell moved forward at the beginning of the year with a tender which was won by the SAMU Foundation. The contract established the residential care of 32 places distributed in 4 lots, with a maximum expenditure of 1,689,103 euros per lot.
According to Vicent Marí in an interview with Periódico de Ibiza, the care of these 32 foreign minors has a cost of 9,000 euros per month per adolescent. “This is unsustainable. And we claim to be reimbursed these amounts. Keeping a minor in Ibiza, with the lack of staff and space there, is much more expensive than doing it anywhere on the mainland,” he said.
This figure represents an annual expenditure of 3,456,000 euros for this group alone, which represents more than half of the total for the ‘menas’.
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Landlord war over Illa Plana ‘menas’ shelter: the surreal story of the “disconnected” pool
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‘Menas’ in Ibiza. “A king’s body, no wonder the call effect is massively produced.”
The contracts with SAMU are distributed in four lots of eight minors, and represent a more costly model than the Consell’s own centers, as they include outsourced services and facility rental.
The 72 ‘menas’ in Sa Coma cost three times less
The rest of the foreign minors in foster care – 72 housed in Sa Coma and managed directly by the Consell –represent an annual cost of 2,918,592 euros, with an average cost of 3,378 euros per child on a monthly basis.
This figure represents almost a third of the monthly cost of the minors managed by SAMU, although it also includes comprehensive care and specialized personnel.
In this way, the Consell insular assumes direct guardianship of almost 70% of the ‘menas’ on the island, with a management model that, according to sources from the island government itself, is more economical without sacrificing the quality of care.
Non-migrant foster children: less than 3,500 euros per month
In addition to the 104 ‘menas’, the Consell de la Menorca takes care of 98 minors on the island, to whom it allocates the rest of the budget -some 3.45 million euros-.
The average cost in these cases is around 3,378 euros per child per month, in line with the expenditure applied to the ‘menas’ under the direct tutelage of the Consell.
Budgetary pressure
The budgetary weight of the ‘menas’ has generated debate both in institutions and in civil society. The 61.5% of the budget is allocated to 51.4% of the minors under guardianship, which reflects the higher operational cost of this care profile, especially in outsourced cases.
Continue reading:
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VOX criticizes the Consell and denounces a “millionaire’s business” with migrant minors in Ibiza
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The owner of the townhouse for ‘menas’ warns the Foundation: “The maximum capacity is seven people in total”.
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Seven new ‘menas’ further collapse the service of minors in Ibiza: there are already 85 under the guardianship of the Consell.
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Illegal and deadly immigration: more than 30 corpses found in the waters off Ibiza and Formentera so far this year
