In a record-breaking incident, a boat carrying 231 migrants arrived at the Canary Islands, the largest single migrant vessel to reach the archipelago.
The boat, which departed from The Gambia, carried 58 minors and 13 women among the passengers, all of African origin, including individuals from Senegal, Mali, and Guinea. The dangerous journey across the Atlantic left three of the migrants in need of hospital treatment for minor injuries.
This arrival comes on the heels of a tragic shipwreck in September, the worst in the Canary Islands in 30 years, which left 50 people missing. The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands has surged this year, with 32,878 individuals arriving between January and mid-October, a 39.7% increase compared to last year. Of this figure, 2,875 migrants arrived in October alone, 467 of them unaccompanied minors.
The government of the Canary Islands has voiced frustration at the lack of support from Spain’s central government. Alfonso Cabello, a spokesperson for the Canary Islands government, expressed concern over the absence of promised funding and the lack of solutions to address the ongoing crisis. He stated:
And meanwhile the Canary Islands remain alone. We still have no funding and no solution to this structural problem. The only solutions that have been put on the table or the paths that have been taken have been those that the regions have been exploring.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands has seen a sharp rise in illegal migration in recent years. The islands are a primary destination for migrants departing from West African countries like The Gambia, Senegal, and Morocco.
In response to the continuous flow of migrants, the Spanish government, led by Pedro Sánchez, has begun dispersing migrants from the Canary Islands to the mainland. In October, the government chartered 15 flights, transporting more than 3,000 migrants to Madrid. These migrants were then sent by bus to various regions across Spain, including Andalusia and Castilla y León. Sources from AENA, Spain’s airport operator, indicate that the number could exceed 5,000 by the end of the month.
The crisis shows no signs of abating. Last month, the Canary Islands recorded the highest number of migrant arrivals in a single week, with nearly 3,000 migrants arriving on over 40 boats. Many of these vessels originated from Morocco, specifically from the coastal areas of Tan-Tan and Agadir. In addition, an increasing number of boats have been traced to Mauritania.
With record numbers of migrants arriving and local infrastructure strained to its limits, the Canary Islands are facing a critical situation. While Spain continues to manage the influx by dispersing migrants to other regions, resentment in those regions grows.