The migrant crisis worsening next to UK tourists getting their winter sun

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The crisis comes at the start of the November to March high season for the tourist trade in the Canaries, situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of Western Africa. It…

MADRID – Authorities in the Canary Islands have declared an emergency following a surge of thousands of migrant arrivals since the start of the month, as the popular holiday destination gears up for an influx of British tourists seeking winter sun.

More than 8,000 migrants have arrived on El Hierro, the second smallest of eight islands in the Spanish archipelago, over the past five weeks. Authorities said 6,665 migrants had arrived in the Canaries on small boats since the start of November – a rise of 1,355 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, held an emergency meeting on Tuesday over the growing pressure facing the Canary Islands, where UK holidaymakers form the largest contingent of foreign visitors.

Thirty-five people were reported dead after a boat capsized last Friday off the coast of Senegal, one of the principal “feeder” countries of migrants to the archipelago.

The crisis comes at the start of the November to March high season for the tourist trade in the Canaries, situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of Western Africa. It follows a surge of arrivals in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in August, when more than 72,000 migrants crossed the border from Morocco in a deadly mass border rush.

Fernando Clavijo, the Canary Islands’ regional leader, said on Sunday that he had called the prime minister to alert him over the severity of the situation on El Hierro and the mounting discontent among residents.

El Hierro has a population of just 11,500 and attracts British and German trekkers who enjoy its rugged terrain. A resident who did not want to be named said that migrants had recently at times outnumbered locals. Of the 66 small boats that have arrived in the Canaries since the start of the month, 48 have landed in El Hierro.

Last year, 15.69 million tourists visited the Canaries, of whom 6.09 million were British, according to the Spanish Statistics Institute.

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