Spain’s Canary Islands received over 1,000 migrants in a single day on Saturday. These migrants made the perilous journey from Africa, with one boat carrying 320 people, which rescuers described as the most crowded vessel they had ever encountered. The Red Cross, providing aid to the migrants, reported that a wooden boat that arrived on El Hierro set a new record for the largest number of arrivals on a single boat. The previous record was set on Oct. 3 with a boat carrying 271 people.
Out of the total arrivals on Saturday, 783 migrants made it to El Hierro, 98 arrived in Tenerife, and 150 reached Gran Canaria. Among these passengers were women and small children. In Gran Canaria, the coast guard towed a wooden boat carrying migrants, including a toddler, into the port of Arguineguin, where previous boats from previous arrivals were already docked.
The Canary Islands have become the primary destination for migrants attempting to reach Spain. This year, there has been a surge in attempted crossings from Senegal and other African countries. Official data shows that between January 1 and October 15, the islands received 23,537 migrants, marking an 80% increase compared to the same period last year. Unfortunately, at least 1,000 people have lost their lives while attempting this perilous crossing, according to the Walking Borders charity.
In response to this crisis, Spain’s acting migration minister announced an aid package of 50 million euros ($53 million) on October 19 to support the Canary Islands in managing this “extraordinary migration flow”.
Reporting by Borja Suarez; Writing by Jessica Jones; Editing by Toby Chopra
