About 1,580 migrants reach Spain's Canary Islands in a single day
Nearly 1,600 people reached Spain’s Canary Islands in a single day, Spanish news agency EFE reported Sunday, citing figures from the government’s Maritime Safety and Rescue Society. Most of the 1,580 migrants who came ashore on Saturday landed on El Hierro, arriving in 15 wooden fishing boats. The majority were from West African countries including Senegal, Gambia and Guinea. Spanish authorities said more than 2,300 people arrived on the islands between Friday and Saturday.
The archipelago’s shortest stretch of water to Africa is about 100 kilometers (62 miles). Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres Perez visited La Restinga on Sunday, on El Hierro’s southern tip, met residents and thanked them for their solidarity and commitment as arrivals surged. In a post on X, Torres Perez said the Government of Spain was working to manage the surge with humanity and with island residents in mind. El Hierro has a population of nearly 12,000. Despite the weekend influx, overall arrivals to the Canaries between January and October 31 were down 5.5% from the same period last year.
The latest surge follows a migration crisis in late July in Ceuta, another Spanish territory, when an estimated 80,000 people, mostly young Moroccan men, crossed from neighboring Morocco. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), has faced opposition criticism over that crisis. Migration and housing are expected to be major issues for voters in snap elections later this month.
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