The Spanish island of El Hierro, popular with British tourists, is facing a 'critical' situation after 1,539 migrants arrived in 20 canoes since last Monday, straining the resources of a territory with just over 11,000 inhabitants.
The influx has prompted the president of the Canary Islands archipelago, Fernando Clavijo, to warn of the risk of the island's hospital collapsing. He has criticised Madrid's lack of response and is demanding more resources and effective coordination to handle peak arrivals.
New Arrivals and Growing Strain
The figure increased on Monday, October 26, when a new cayuco arrived at the port of La Restinga with 59 people on board, including three women and four minors, all of sub-Saharan origin.
The Independent El Hierro Group has echoed these concerns, with spokesman Javier Armas warning that guards have slipped and that the island is not prepared for a problem he considers chronic.
Concerns Over Reception Conditions
Mr Armas said: "The problem is that the means are insufficient to cope with this rate of arrival and it does not seem that anything has been done to mitigate both the intensity and all the necessary management with this whole issue."
He criticised the excessive dependence on citizens' goodwill, adding: "It cannot happen either that everything is in the hands or is again in the hands of volunteers. The local population is beginning to feel that the situation is unsustainable."
Tragic Incidents and Investigation
According to Mr Armas, the reception centres are in "deplorable conditions, even from a sanitary perspective," and he described the situation inside as "very, very, very, very lamentable."
"This state of affairs is causing growing concern among the island's inhabitants," he said. "The people who live in El Hierro are really beginning to fear that this is a permanent issue, that it is an issue that is going to change their lives for the future."
The upturn has also shown the most tragic side of the Atlantic route. Last Wednesday, two young people who arrived lifeless on the island were buried in El Pinar. In addition, the Civil Guard is investigating the death of a child who, according to witnesses, was thrown overboard during the crossing of a cayuco that arrived on October 19 from Senegal.
Government delegate Anselmo Pestana has attributed the upturn to more favourable sea conditions and insists that overall, the arrival of migrants to the entire archipelago, which includes Tenerife, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria, has decreased.
