More Than 500 Migrants Arrive at Spanish Canary Islands in 24 Hours
In a significant development, emergency services have reported that over 500 migrants made their way to the Spanish Canary Islands within just 24 hours. This news comes as the islands recently saw their largest influx of migrants on a single boat since 1994, with 280 passengers arriving on Tuesday. According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, 2023 has witnessed a 20% increase in migrant arrivals compared to the previous year.
On Wednesday, emergency services on the Spanish Canary Islands revealed that four large wooden boats brought in more than 500 migrants in a single day earlier this week.
One of these boats, which arrived on Tuesday, was carrying a whopping 280 migrants, marking the largest number on a single boat since human traffickers began using the Canary Island route extensively in 1994. Spanish Red Cross coordinator José Antonio Rodríguez Verona noted that he had not seen such a large number of people on a single boat since 2008 when 234 migrants arrived in one vessel.
Only five of the migrants required medical attention upon reaching the small port of La Restinga on the southern tip of Hierro Island.
In recent days, hundreds of other migrants were intercepted while attempting to reach other islands in the archipelago, situated off the northwest coast of Africa, as well as various locations on mainland Spain.
According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, nearly 15,000 migrants arrived at the Canary Islands by boat from January 1 to September 30, 2023, representing a 20% increase compared to the same period the previous year. The majority of these migrants embarked on their journey from Senegal.