NEW data has revealed a drop in the number of missing persons across Spain, but the amount is still more than 25,000 with over 60% cases involving minors.
Spain’s National Centre for Missing Persons (CDNES) has published the latest data on missing persons reports for 2025.
Despite seeing a 5% decrease from 2024, the numbers are still at a worrying high with 25,086 missing persons reports filed.
Even more concerning are the details involving young people, who make up 61.4% of missing cases.
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There were around 15,389 children and teens who were reported missing in 2025.
While this figure has also decreased by 7.8% from the previous year, the information found that nearly one in two missing people in Spain are minors.
Teens between the ages of 13 to 17 represent the highest amount of missing cases at 96.3%.
The most common reason for teens becoming classified as missing is due to ‘voluntary runaway’ cases.
Spanish company SaveFamily analysed the data and has expressed that the first few hours of a person, especially a minor, are the most important in resolving the case.
However, most of these cases ended up being resolved after the missing persons report was filed.
The region with the highest number of missing children is Madrid with 2,726. Following the capital is Las Palmas (1,849), Valencia (796), Alicante (754), Tenerife (732), the Balearic Islands (697), and Barcelona (670).
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In Las Palmas, 82.6% of all missing persons cases involved children.
The study found that the biggest impact to further reducing these numbers is to strengthen child safety through technology like smartwatches and other tools that are adapted for kids.
Jorge Alvarez, CEO of SaveFamily, said on International Day of Missing Children (May 25) that there is a need to ‘increase our vigilance to protect our children.’
‘Prevention and rapid response are key to avoiding risky situations and improving the protection of minors,’ Alvarez said.
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