Irregular migrant alarm in Spain: They are arriving in droves!
More than 1,500 irregular migrants have arrived in different groups to the Canary Islands in southwestern Spain over the past week. The autonomous government of the Canary Islands expects the central government and the European Union to take concrete measures and increase aid.
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Spain's Canary Islands in the southwest are experiencing a surge of migrants.
In a statement to the press, the autonomous government of the Canary Islands and Civil Aid teams reported that approximately 600 irregular migrants arrived on 12 boats on June 8 alone.
The statement noted that the irregular migrants, who are said to have set off from the coasts of Mauritania or Senegal in West Africa, reached the waters off Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro, and Gran Canaria, and were brought ashore with the help of Coast Guard teams.
Emphasizing that the number of irregular migrants arriving in the region over the past week has exceeded 1,500, Civil Aid teams told the Spanish press that they had to work without a break throughout the week to assist the migrants, including women and children, and that they were unable to provide sufficient aid due to a shortage of personnel.
The teams announced that 2 migrants in poor health and one pregnant woman were taken to the hospital.
On June 6, a total of 516 irregular migrants arrived in the Canary Islands on four boats; the body of one person was found, and it was reported that at least 10 migrants who had died during the journey due to reasons such as hunger and thirst had been thrown into the sea by others on the boat.
The autonomous government of the Canary Islands has been demanding that the central government and the European Union take concrete measures and increase aid in response to the rising influx of irregular migrants over the past few years.
Officials state that the number of irregular migrants who have arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of 2024 has exceeded 18,000.