Some 3,000 children from Sahrawi refugee camps will arrive in Spain this summer thanks to the "Holidays in Peace 2025" programme

The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, has approved the necessary instructions to authorise the temporary residence of minors of Sahrawi origin and the granting of residence visas to the monitors who will accompany them during their stay in Spain for a period of three months in the framework of the "Holidays in Peace 2025" Programme.

The "Holidays in Peace" programme is aimed at the temporary reception of minors from the Sahrawi refugee camps located in the Algerian province of Tindouf. From 2014 to 2024, around 34,500 Sahrawi children have benefited from this programme, which was consolidated as such in the mid-1990s. This summer, some 3,000 children will benefit from this programme.

As part of Spain's commitment of solidarity with the population of the Sahrawi refugee camps, the "Holidays in Peace" programme is carried out annually (it has only been interrupted for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic), allowing thousands of children to enjoy a holiday period in Spain during the summer season, from the end of June to the beginning of September, after which they return to their place of origin.

"Holidays in Peace" is managed by the different entities and associations of Friends of the Sahrawi People, the Sahrawi National Delegation and the Sahrawi delegations in the different Autonomous Communities.

In addition, the Ministries of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Home Affairs and Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory participate in the development of the programme, together with the Autonomous Communities where the minors will stay.

In the last ten years, Andalusia, Catalonia, Castilla la Mancha, the Basque Country and Galicia have been the main autonomous communities of destination for Sahrawi children participating in the programme.

Non official translation