A record 1,488 migrants reached the Canary Islands on Saturday, according to a provisional tally compiled by Spain’s EFE news agency.
El Hierro, an island of about 11,400 residents, received 1,235 people, with the rest brought ashore on Gran Canaria and Tenerife. The previous single-day record across the archipelago was 1,461, set in November 2020.
Spain’s territorial policy minister, Ángel Víctor Torres, was due to visit the port of La Restinga on Sunday. The visit comes five days after Madrid declared a migration emergency in the Canaries and announced extra funding for healthcare, reception centres and transfers. ALSO READ: Spain calls urgent migration meeting after 4,587 people reach Canary Islands in six days.
What Madrid agreed at the emergency meeting
As Spain in English reported last week, the government called urgent talks after 4,587 people reached the archipelago in the first six days of November. Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo and El Hierro island council president Alpidio Armas joined Torres and other ministers at La Moncloa on Tuesday 10 November.
The government announced an additional €15.18 million to expand capacity at state-run reception centres and fund transfers between islands and to mainland Spain. A further €1 million will go to the Red Cross to strengthen medical care and immediate assistance for people arriving. Madrid also announced an additional maritime rescue vessel and more staff to process the relocation of unaccompanied minors.
Clavijo said the central government had also committed to setting up a compensation fund for businesses affected in La Restinga, including fishing operators, dive centres, restaurants and accommodation providers. In its own statement, La Moncloa said the Treasury would examine how to cover extraordinary costs incurred by local authorities and that the Economy Ministry would monitor the impact on businesses. It gave no timetable for compensation.
Pressure on the port and the island’s health services
La Restinga is both the main landing point for rescue operations off El Hierro and a working harbour. El Pinar’s deputy mayor, Magaly González, told Spain’s public radio broadcaster RNE last week that the accumulation of boats in the harbour had left fishing crews with little room to manoeuvre and was disrupting dive centres.
On Saturday, 158 people were transferred from El Hierro to Tenerife by scheduled ferry. The island’s temporary reception centre in San Andrés was reported to be holding 317 people before the latest arrivals were counted, while 11 people who had arrived on previous days remained in hospital. On Gran Canaria, 17 people were taken to hospital after being assessed at the port of Arguineguín.
People brought ashore on El Hierro had spent between four and seven days at sea after leaving Senegal, The Gambia or Mauritania, according to teams assisting them. Among those rescued on Saturday were 240 people who said they had spent six days crossing from Gunjur in The Gambia. The group included 36 minors.
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#ACTUALIZACIÓN | Un sábado de rescates sin pausa hace historia en la Ruta Canaria: 1.488 personas en solo un día En 24 horas, han sido socorridos doce cayucos en El Hierro, uno en Gran Canaria y otro en Tenerife https://t.co/Gxwe3Yv2G9 https://t.co/b4oGQ5hvKE
— EFE Canarias (@EFE_Canarias) November 14, 2026
Canarias bate el récord diario de rescates en la Ruta Atlántica con 1.488 personas https://t.co/9QX8Rm5adl
— RTVC (@RTVCes) November 15, 2026
Sábado de rescates de récord en Canarias: llegan 14 nuevos cayucos con 1.488 personas https://t.co/WMdnBOs8lj
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) November 15, 2026
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