Spain faces dramatic increase in migrant arrivals

The Spanish government of socialist Pedro Sánchez is facing a spectacular increase in the arrival of illegal migrants this fall, mainly in the Canary Islands, which feels abandoned by Madrid and Europe.

Not a day goes by without the emergency services reporting the arrival of a makeshift boat carrying dozens of African migrants in one of the Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of the African continent.

So much so that Mr. Sánchez has decided to tour three countries most affected by the crisis from Tuesday to Thursday: Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal.

We do not yet know the nature and amount of aid he intends to offer these countries – particularly Mauritania, where he had already visited in February and which is said to be the main point of departure for the migrants – to encourage them to do everything possible to prevent these departures.

A Spanish ship search and rescue at sea tows a migrant boat, near the port of Restinga, on the island of El Hierro, August 18, 2024 in the Canaries © AFP – Antonio Sempere

The president of the regional government of the Canaries, Fernando Clavijo, who met Mr. Sánchez on Friday, estimated that there were “more than 150,000 refugees” ready to take to the sea to go to his archipelago from Mauritania.

He especially urged the EU to take its responsibilities, “so that the Canaries do not have to bear all the migratory pressure from Europe alone”, because these migrants “arrive in Europe, in Spain, and not just in the Canaries”.

In fact, the Canaries, and more generally Spain, are often only a stopover on the way to other European countries, first and foremost France.

– Minor migrants –

The latest figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior are eloquent. Between January 1 and August 15 of this year, 22,304 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, compared to 9,864 in the same period last year, an increase of 126%. For Spain as a whole, the increase is 66.2% (from 18,745 to 31,155).

Migrants react upon their arrival at the port of Restinga, on the island of El Hierro, on August 19, 2024 in the Canary Islands © AFP – Jose Antonio SEMPERE

Furthermore, this upward trend is expected to increase by the end of the year, due to the expected improvement in navigation conditions in this area of ​​the Atlantic.

The record figure of 39,910 arrivals recorded last year could therefore be shattered, confirming that this Atlantic route to the Canaries has become the main access route for migrants to Spain, despite its extreme danger, which causes the death of thousands of them each year.

But the Canaries are not the only region in southern Spain affected by this phenomenon. The small city of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the northern coast of Morocco, has also recorded a sharp increase in arrivals in recent weeks.

Members of the emergency services help migrants as they arrive at the port of Restinga, on the island of El Hierro, on August 18, 2024 in the Canary Islands © AFP – Antonio Sempere

Ceuta is one of only two EU land borders with the African continent – the other being at Melilla, another Spanish enclave further afield the east.

For these regions, the most pressing problem is that of underage migrants arriving alone, known in Spain as Mena (unaccompanied foreign minors), their situation having major domestic policy implications.

– Abandoned –

Because while adult migrants fall under the financial jurisdiction of the central state, those under 18, on the other hand, are the exclusive responsibility of the regions.

Emergency services members help migrants as they arrive at the port of Restinga, on the island of El Hierro, on August 18, 2024 in the Canary Islands © AFP – Antonio Sempere

The Spanish regions located on the front line are therefore completely overwhelmed by the explosion in the number of minor migrants they have to take care of.

In the Canary Islands, the regional government currently has to provide for the needs of 5,100 foreign minors, while the capacity of its reception centers is only 2,000 people. The situation is similar in Ceuta.

To solve this problem, the government of Pedro Sánchez tried to have Parliament vote in July on a modification of the law on immigration, in order to give the central government the right to distribute foreign minors among all the regions of the country.

But the Popular Party (right), Vox (extreme right) and the Catalan independence party of Carles Puigdemont, who advocate a tougher policy against illegal immigration, prevented any discussion of the text of the law.

For the time being, the government of the Canaries is therefore left to its own devices and feels abandoned.

On Friday, Mr Clavijo simply obtained from Mr Sánchez the renewal of his term of office. this year of state aid of 50 million euros, equal to that received in 2022 and 2023, but far from the 150 million euros that he says he has spent since the beginning of the year.

CHZ/liu

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