Vox brands as absurd the idea of the mayor of Málaga to request European scholarships in Morocco for migrant minors from Ceuta.

Based on the information available in official databases and the press, there is no concrete and formalized initiative identifiable as “proposal for European scholarships for Moroccan minors” currently under parliamentary or governmental processing in Spain or the EU. What does exist is an intense debate about migrant minors of Moroccan origin, European funding for their reception and integration, and more general proposals (such as permanent European funds), but none of these are presented as a specific program of “European scholarships for Moroccan minors” with a clear processing file.

From there, it is possible to explain what steps would be necessary if one wanted to actually approve a scholarship program of this type, distinguishing between the European and Spanish levels.

1. Approximate current situation

The official documentation consulted includes:

• Rules and agreements that use European funds for education and inclusion (Erasmus+, ESF+, Next Generation EU, inclusive education programs, school meal aids, etc.), but generally aimed at vulnerable students or the entire student population, not only Moroccan minors.
• Political initiatives on unaccompanied migrant minors, return to Morocco, European funding for their care, and proposals such as a Permanent European Fund for migrant minors, registered as non-legislative motions or proposals without direct normative value.

No source identifies a regulation, agreement, or law already in process whose central object is to create specific European scholarships for Moroccan minors. If it existed, it would appear as a concrete program within instruments such as Erasmus+, ESF+, or another fund, or as a bilateral EU–Morocco agreement, and today it is not documented as such.

2. How a scholarship program of this type would be approved

The legal framework would depend on whether it is:

• A European Union program (financed and managed from Brussels, with its own calls).
• A Spanish program financed with European funds (ESF+, Erasmus+, Next Generation, etc.), but designed and called by Spanish authorities.

2.1. Program created directly by the EU

In this scenario, the steps would roughly be:

• Initiative of the European Commission: proposal of a regulation or modification of an existing program (for example Erasmus+ or a neighborhood instrument), defining objectives, beneficiaries (in this case, minors of Moroccan nationality under certain conditions), amounts, and selection criteria.
• Negotiation and approval of the regulation or its reform by the Council (Member States) and the European Parliament, following the ordinary legislative procedure: committee reports, amendments, trilogues, plenary votes.
• Financial programming: allocation of credits within the EU multiannual financial framework and annual work programs.
• Calls for aid: publication by the competent European agency (for example, the Education and Culture Executive Agency or the Spanish National Agency if managed under a “shared management” regime) with the bases, requirements, and application procedure.

Once the regulation and work programs are approved, the scholarships would be executable without additional legislative intervention from national parliaments, beyond their general political oversight.

2.2. Spanish program financed with European funds

If the initiative comes from the Government of Spain, using European funds, the process would be different:

• Political and technical design by the competent ministry (Education, Youth and Childhood, Inclusion, etc.), identifying the applicable European fund (ESF+, Erasmus+, territorial cooperation, etc.) and the eligibility framework (for example, Moroccan minors in educational vulnerability).
• Internal regulatory authorization:
  • Approval of regulatory bases for grants by ministerial order, or development of a higher-ranking norm if considered necessary (law or royal decree-law if urgency is claimed).
  • Inclusion or modification of budget items in the General State Budgets or through an extraordinary credit financed with already assigned European funds.
• If applicable, parliamentary processing:
  • If structured as a law or a royal decree-law, the text would go through the usual phases: validation, amendments, committee and plenary debates, and, if applicable, passage through the Senate.
  • The Cortes could also urge the Government through non-legislative motions, but these do not create the program themselves, only exert political pressure.
• Call for scholarships: once regulatory bases and credit exist, the ministry or managing body publishes the call resolution, detailing beneficiaries, amounts, application procedure, and awarding criteria.
• Execution and control: processing individual files, payment of aid, and subsequent financial control (General Intervention, national and European Court of Auditors, verifications by the EU fund itself).

3. Point at which such a proposal would be

Since no regulation, bill, Council decision, or European program establishing “European scholarships for Moroccan minors” as such has been located, the proposal should be understood today, at best, as a political or media idea, or as a possibility within the broader debate on European funding for migrant minors. For it to move from that declarative level to a legal reality, it would have to go through, depending on the chosen scope (EU or Spain), the formal process described above.

The mayor of Málaga does not have a “migration policy” of their own in the sense of deciding who enters or leaves Spain, but by legal mandate, they concentrate the political and executive leadership of all municipal competencies affecting migrants (reception, registration, social services, coexistence) and international cooperation for development. These functions are exercised within the margins set by the State and the Junta of Andalusia.

1. General competency framework

The Law 7/1985, Regulating the Bases of the Local Regime (text in BOE) defines the municipality as the basic entity of territorial organization and attributes to the city council its own competencies in areas such as social services, participation in education, housing, health, and promotion of equality and local coexistence. These are the “entry points” for municipal action with immigrant populations.

At the same time, the Organic Law 4/2000, on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration (BOE) reserves to the State the definition and execution of immigration policy (admission, residence, expulsion, borders), but foresees that all administrations, including local ones, collaborate in the social integration of foreigners.

In Andalusia, the reformed Statute of Autonomy (Organic Law 2/2007, BOE) and the Law 5/2010, of Local Autonomy of Andalusia (BOE) strengthen municipal autonomy and recognize the municipality as a level of government with its own competencies, especially in social services, inclusion, and citizen participation. The Andalusian Law 9/2016, of Social Services (BOE) configures a network of basic social services in which municipalities also attend to immigrants.

2. Competencies of the Málaga City Council in immigration

On this basis, the Málaga City Council—and therefore its mayor—mainly has:

• Management of the municipal register, following the reform of Law 7/1985 by Law 4/1996 relating to the register (BOE). The mayor directs the service that registers foreign residents, which gives them access to local rights and services.
• Provision and organization of municipal social services, including those aimed at immigrant populations (emergency reception, basic social care, mediation, family support, etc.), according to Law 7/1985 and Andalusian Law 9/2016.
• Local integration and coexistence programs: municipal immigration plans, language and orientation courses, intercultural mediation, fight against discrimination, which the mayor politically promotes and executes through municipal departments.
• Guarantee of access to municipal services (transport, culture, sports, neighborhood participation) on equal terms for registered persons, including foreigners, according to Organic Law 4/2000, which recognizes the rights derived from registration to foreigners.

All this is carried out in coordination with the Junta of Andalusia (competent in social services, health, education) and with the General State Administration (migration policy, residence authorizations, border control).

3. International cooperation for development

Although foreign policy and state cooperation correspond to the State, local regime legislation and the Andalusian Statute allow municipalities to develop decentralized cooperation, provided that these are actions of local interest and respect state and regional competencies.

Within this framework, the mayor of Málaga can:

• Promote and propose to the plenary the approval of municipal international cooperation plans and aid to NGO projects and entities in third countries.
• Represent the municipality abroad and sign twinning or collaboration agreements with foreign cities and entities, when provided by regulations and with prior authorization from the competent municipal bodies.
• Coordinate municipal cooperation with the Junta of Andalusia and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, aligning local lines with regional and state strategies.

4. Specific role of the mayor and limits

Law 7/1985 assigns the mayor the headship of the municipal government and administration: directs services, executes plenary agreements, issues decrees, approves spending within legal limits, signs contracts and agreements, and represents the city council in and out of court. Applied to immigration and international cooperation, this means that:

• Defines local political orientation in these matters and coordinates the involved departments.
• Orders the provision of municipal services affecting migrants.
• Submits regulatory and budgetary proposals to the plenary (ordinances, plans, subsidies).

However, the mayor of Málaga cannot:

• Grant or deny visas, residence permits, or nationality, nor decide expulsions or detentions.
• Create a legal regime for foreigners different from the state one.
• Conclude international treaties or assume functions of external representation of the State.

In summary, Spanish legislation places the mayor of Málaga as the highest political and executive responsible for municipal policies affecting the lives of migrants and the city’s international cooperation, always subordinated to the competency framework set by the State and developed by the Junta of Andalusia.

A municipal initiative to obtain European funds intended for scholarships in third countries must be based on the general framework of public grants and, in parallel, comply with the specific rules of the European program chosen (Erasmus+, ESF+, cooperation programs, PRTR, etc.). Broadly speaking, there are three levels to consider: the regulatory (which laws apply), the requirements of the local entity as beneficiary, and the internal procedural circuit of the scholarship call itself.

1. Basic applicable regulatory framework

At the Spanish level, the general regime is Law 38/2003, General Law on Subsidies and its Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 887/2006, which regulate the concept of subsidy, regulatory bases, competitive concurrence, financial control, reimbursement, and sanctioning regime. These texts are complemented, among others, by:

• Regulations on subsidy publicity and the National Subsidy Database (BDNS), developed later.
• Local regime legislation (Law 7/1985 and regional norms) that determines the competencies of the plenary, governing board, or mayor regarding subsidies.
• Cooperation laws for development, particularly Law 1/2023, on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, relevant if scholarships are part of cooperation policies with third countries.
• EU rules on State aid, to which the General Law on Subsidies refers when aid may affect competition.

2. General requirements of the local entity

To participate in European or nationally co-financed calls with European funds, the city council usually must prove, at minimum:

• Public legal personality and material competence to develop the project (education, youth, cooperation, etc.).
• Being up to date with tax and Social Security obligations and having no pending firm reimbursement orders regarding subsidies.
• Financial solvency and co-financing capacity when the program does not cover 100% of the cost (the non-financed part must be foreseen in the municipal budget).
• Administrative capacity to manage international scholarships (management unit, sufficient human resources, control systems).

Additionally, the entity must respect the specific eligibility conditions set by the European call (for example, being a local authority, having agreements with universities or organizations in third countries, etc.).

3. Regulatory bases and scholarship call

If the city council is going to distribute the aid (scholarships) to third parties, it must previously approve regulatory bases, according to the General Law on Subsidies and its Regulation:

• Define object, purpose, and fit within a municipal or sectoral strategic subsidy plan.
• Establish beneficiaries (students, researchers, etc.), requirements, and evaluation criteria.
• Set maximum amount, aid intensity, and possible incompatibilities with other scholarships.
• Regulate the form of granting, which, as a general rule, must be by competitive concurrence, except for exceptions established by law.
• Provide for obligations of justification, monitoring, and, if applicable, causes for reimbursement.

The regulatory bases are approved by the competent municipal body and published in the corresponding official journal and in the BDNS, before or together with the specific scholarship call.

4. Typical phases of the procedure

• Project design and competency fit: definition of the scholarship program, partners in third countries, budget and schedule; verification that the action falls within local competencies and the lines of the chosen European program.
• Request for European funds: submission to the European or national call (PRTR, ESF+, etc.) complying with its forms, deadlines, and requirements of partnership, indicators, evaluation plan, and financial plan.
• Internal municipal approval: agreements of the competent body to accept financing, incorporate credits into the budget, approve regulatory bases and scholarship call.
• Publicity and processing of the call: official publication, opening of application period, instruction, evaluation by collegiate body, and proposal of resolution.
• Resolution and formalization: granting resolution, notification to beneficiaries, and, if applicable, signing of agreements or individual scholarship commitments.
• Execution and control: management of travel, payments, insurance, and other expenses; monitoring of the stay; compliance with public procurement regulations when applicable.
• Justification and closure: receipt of reports, certificates, and expense receipts; verification by municipal intervention; accountability to the managing body of the European fund and retention of documentation during the required period.

5. State aid, transparency, and publicity

When scholarships may be considered economic aids affecting competition (for example, training directly linked to business activities), the city council must verify their compatibility with EU public aid rules and, if applicable, respect the limits and conditions of exemption or de minimis regulations.

Finally, the bases and calls must provide for publicity of the origin of the funds: EU and co-financing administrations’ logos, visible mentions in all documentation, and active transparency channels, in accordance with subsidy publicity and transparency regulations.