Though the vast majority of migrants have since returned to Morocco, roughly 1,100 unaccompanied minors who arrived before and during the influx – and cannot be summarily deported – remain, according to the local government.

Many are lodged in makeshift accommodation in warehouses or sleeping on the streets as Ceuta’s reception centres are full.

Charities and residents’ groups said they were trying to help children sleeping rough, along with pregnant women.

After initially stating that migrants should all be ⁠sent back, the PP’s Alma Ezcurra told Spanish radio station Onda Cero on Wednesday that due process must first be followed to identify those suspected to be minors.

However, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the PP president of the Madrid regional government, said the young migrants should be sent home. “I can’t see Spain abandoning its children to their fate in another country,” she posted on X. “It’s ⁠inhuman, every country should take responsibility for its own children and citizens.”