Emergency services on the Spanish Canary Islands said Wednesday that more than 650 migrants reached El Hierro island in five large wooden boats over the past two days.
One of four boats that arrived Tuesday was carrying 280 migrants, the islands’ emergency service said on X, formerly known as Twitter. The state news agency EFE said it was the largest number in a single boat since human traffickers began to regularly use the Canary Island route in 1994.
Three other boats carrying more than 200 migrants also arrived at El Herro on Tuesday while another vessel carrying 128 migrants arrived Wednesday. Only five of the migrants needed medical treatment.
Hundreds of other migrants were intercepted trying to reach other islands in the archipelago, located off the northwest coast of Africa, and elsewhere on mainland Spain in recent days.
Migrants arriving by boat to Spain spend up to 72 hours in police custody, for identification, then are moved into various reception or detention centers depending on their cases. Although some are deported, most apply for asylum and are taken to mainland Spain for their petitions to be studied.
Spain’s Interior Ministry says nearly 15,000 migrants reached the Canary Islands by boat from Jan 1 to Sept 30, 2023. That’s a 20% increase from same period last year. Most departed from Senegal.
