Calm seemed to have returned to the Spanish village of El Vellon in early August. Two months had passed since the incidents that occurred around the foreign minors' reception center in this municipality of 2,000 inhabitants, located 50 kilometers north of Madrid. On June 9, angry residents tried to enter the building to confront the young migrants, whom they accused of having committed an assault – details of which vary – and an alleged theft of two cell phones. In recent months, the reception of unaccompanied foreign minors, or menas as they are known in Spain, has become a major source of political tension. Hitherto absent from political disputes, immigration has now become a contentious issue on this side of the Pyrénées, as well as in France.

Outside the reception center, a pavilion leased by the Community of Madrid's regional government, a social worker reluctant to talk to the press claimed that the 11 young isolated migrants housed there "didn't want any trouble." Among local elected representatives, opinions are clear-cut. The socialist mayor of El Vellon, Catalina Llorente, claimed in June that "90% of the offenses attributed to these young people were not committed by them," while the conservative mayor of neighboring Pedrezuela, Rodrigo García, accused them of "spreading panic and endangering the peaceful coexistence of citizens."

The villagers are also divided. "These young people are the target of a smear campaign orchestrated by the right," said Gustavo Diaz, a 46-year-old tax adviser who lives 40 meters from the pavilion. "Even before the center was set up, the village youth organization issued a statement saying that they [the menas] were a danger and that they didn't want them. Last week, there was a knife attack, and they were accused even though it wasn't them. Whenever there's an incident or an assault in the area, they're the scapegoats."

Laura (first names have been withheld), who was out walking her dog, took part in a demonstration outside the center on June 12 calling for its closure. According to her, "These young people are aggressive, they go after the local kids and they don't integrate." Raul, a man in his 50s who works for a road maintenance company, sitting at a café in the village square, holds them responsible for the sense of insecurity that "prevents him from going out in his village with [his] children at night."

"I talk with the young people," said Susana, a 41-year-old cleaning lady. "They've been through difficult experiences, they're nice and one of them even gave me a bracelet," she said, showing a delicate silver chain around her wrist.

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