Madrid Age Tests Confirm 112 Minors and 266 Adults Among 378 Completed Cases in 2024

Madrid authorities opened 848 age-determination proceedings in 2024 for people claiming to be unaccompanied foreign minors, up from 482 in 2023. More than half of the cases were archived after claimants abandoned the process before a wrist X-ray test. Of the 378 individuals who completed the test, 266 were determined to be adults, or about 70 percent, while 112 were confirmed as minors.

ZeroHedge reported that the number of detected age frauds in Madrid tripled from the previous year. The region has handled more than 11,000 such cases since 2018, including 2,442 new entries into its protection system in 2024. Madrid regional authorities filed 29 police complaints after discovering adults placed in minor-protection facilities.

Nationwide, Spain’s Fiscalía General del Estado recorded 7,562 pre-procedural age-determination cases in 2024, of which 2,457 concluded that the individuals were adults. Comparable results appear elsewhere in Europe. In France’s Marne department, 192 of 240 tested claimants were adults.

A 2019 Paris prosecutor’s office review found 141 of 154 identified minors were adults. Belgian data showed 73.7 percent of a sampled group were over 18, while Swedish health authorities found 84 percent of tested child migrants were 18 or older. German forensic exams in Münster identified adults in about 40 percent of cases.

In October 2025, a Moroccan man accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Madrid claimed to be 17. Age verification placed his age near 23 and revealed 14 prior convictions, leading to transfer to adult court.