Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez heads to West Africa as migrant arrivals surge

And he urged the European Union to take its share of responsibility ‘so that the Canary Islands do not have to shoulder all of Europe’s migratory pressure on its own’.

‘In the end, it’s a pressure for Europe because they are arriving in Europe, in Spain, and not just on the Canary Islands,’ he said.

The Canary Islands and Spain tend to be just the first stopping point for West African migrants who usually head to other European countries, notably France.

Arrivals in the past year have more than doubled – between 1 January and 15 August this year, 22,304 migrants reached the Islands, compared with 9,864 in the same period in 2023 – an increase of 126%, according to interior ministry figures. ALSO READ: Canary Islands migrant arrivals up 126% year-on-year, as Sánchez plans west Africa trip.

The number of migrants increased across the whole of Spain with 31,155 arrivals to mid-August, a 66.2% increase on the 18,745 a year earlier.

And recent history suggests the upward trend is only likely to increase as the autumn ushers in better weather conditions for navigating the Atlantic waters.

Last year saw a record 39,910 arrivals, but current levels suggest 2024 is on track to set a new record, confirming the Atlantic route to the Canaries as the main conduit for migrants despite its treacherous nature.

The route is particularly perilous due to its strong currents, with thousands of deaths and disappearances every year as people seek to cross in overloaded, often unseaworthy boats.

But this is not the only part of southern Spain to be affected by an upsurge in arrivals, with the tiny enclave of Ceuta also experiencing a sharp rise in newcomers in recent weeks.

Located on the coast of North Africa, Ceuta and its fellow enclave Melilla, have long been a magnet for fleeing violence and poverty across Africa and seeking refuge by crossing Africa’s only land borders with the EU.

For these areas, the main problem is unaccompanied minors who cross alone and cannot legally be sent back, and whose presence has had an impact on Spain’s domestic politics.

Although adult migrants are the financial responsibility of the central government, those under 18 are cared for by the regions where they are housed. This has meant the frontline regions have been completely inundated by the surge in minors for whom they have to care.

In the Canaries, the regional government is currently caring for 5,100 foreign minors despite only having capacity at its centres for 2,000. And the situation is similar in Ceuta.

To resolve the problem, Sánchez’s government in July tried to push a modification of the immigration law through parliament that would have given it the power to share out minors across all of Spain’s 17 regions.

But the main opposition, the right-wing People’s Party (PP), as well as the far-right Vox group and hardline Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), which has also taken a hard line on illegal immigration, blocked the text from being discussed.

When he met Sánchez on Friday, Canary Islands’ Clavijo only secured a fresh pledge for €50 million, the same sum the islands’ received for the past two years and far from the 150 million he says his administration has so far spent this year.

58 inmigrantes han sido trasladados a medio día de hoy por la embarcación de Salvamento Marítimo Salvamar Adhara en aguas cercanas a El Hierro, y trasladados al puerto de La Restinga. Se trata del segundo cayuco que llega a la isla durante el día. pic.twitter.com/C00lliqQFh

— Agencia Canaria de Noticias y Audiovisuales. (@ACFIPRESS) August 21, 2024

La reunión con el presidente Sánchez ha sido cordial y en ella hemos podido hablar de los temas que más preocupan en Canarias, principalmente del fenómeno migratorio.

Espero que esta vez se dé un impulso a la negociación para conseguir la modificación de la Ley de Extranjería y… pic.twitter.com/Ktpew645LE

— Fernando Clavijo (@FClavijoBatlle) August 23, 2024