Spain Jails Seven Citizens for Calling Migrants 'Scum' on Facebook While Migrant Crime Surges
Spain's Supreme Court upheld prison terms for citizens' Facebook posts criticizing migrants while a migrant rapist received a suspended sentence, highlighting stark sentencing disparities amid surging foreign-born crime.
In Spain, calling unaccompanied migrant minors "scum" on Facebook earns you up to 22 months in prison. Raping a 14-year-old girl earns you a suspended sentence and community service.
The country's Supreme Court upheld prison terms for seven citizens over inflammatory Facebook posts from 2017. A Senegalese migrant who raped a 14-year-old received only a two-year suspended sentence, 60 days of community service and a €7,500 fine.
The Criminal Chamber issued its ruling on Feb. 26, confirming sentences of eight months to one year and ten months for the seven convicted individuals. The court reduced original terms of up to two years and six months due to undue delays in the nearly nine-year legal proceedings.
The comments appeared in a Facebook group called "Opinión Popular de Melilla," which had more than 14,000 members in a city of approximately 85,000 inhabitants. Posts referred to immigrant minors, known in Spanish as MENAs — menores extranjeros no acompañados — as "escoria" (scum), "bazofia" (rubbish) or "gentuza" (riffraff).
Some posts called for the formation of vigilante patrols and harsh treatment of migrants, including language demanding minors be sent back to their countries. The language reflected frustration from citizens confronting a changing community.
The Supreme Court ruled that freedom of expression "is not an absolute right, and cannot serve as an excuse when comments objectively demean, humiliate, or provoke conflict with constitutional rights."
The Jesuit Migrant Service expressed satisfaction with the verdict. The religious organization served as popular prosecution in the case alongside the Public Prosecutor's Office.
"The sentence clearly establishes that this type of comments cannot be considered mere opinions protected by freedom of expression," Moreno Gómez stated.
The conviction arrives as Spain grapples with surging crime statistics linked to foreign-born offenders. A study from the CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory found foreigners commit 500 percent more rapes per capita than Spanish citizens and 414 percent more murders per capita.
Penetrative rape cases increased 143 percent from 2,214 in 2019 to 5,206 in 2024, according to the study. Foreigners make up 31 percent of Spain's prison population despite comprising 20.3 percent of the total population as of January 2026.
The data underscores the contrast between harsh penalties for verbal criticism of migrants and light sentences for violent crimes committed by foreigners. The Senegalese migrant who raped the 14-year-old girl he met on Instagram received a punishment far lighter than prison terms given for Facebook comments.
Spain's policy context amplifies the dissonance. The government approved a decree in January to regularize 500,000 undocumented migrants, expected to take effect in April.
"We're reinforcing a migratory model based on human rights, on integration and on coexistence that's compatible with both economic growth and social cohesion," Migration Minister Elma Saiz told reporters.
Sánchez took additional steps to monitor online speech on March 11, unveiling HODIO — a new government AI tool to track hate speech on social media platforms.
"Throughout history, migration has been one of the great drivers of the development of nations while hatred and xenophobia have been — and continue to be — the greatest destroyer of nations," Sánchez stated.
The Supreme Court's Facebook ruling follows another conviction of a Spanish priest, Custodio Ballester, who was found guilty in October 2025 and faces up to three years in prison for remarks deemed Islamophobic.
The Facebook case began when child rights groups including PRODEIN Melilla filed a complaint in 2017. A Criminal Court in Melilla acquitted all ten defendants initially, ruling the comments were protected by freedom of expression. The Málaga Provincial Court partially revoked the acquittal on appeal, convicting seven of the ten defendants.
The appellate court acquitted three of the defendants, and the Supreme Court confirmed the convictions of the remaining seven.
What speech is now off-limits for Spanish citizens concerned about border security and public safety remains unclear as the government expands its surveillance of online platforms.