Spain Declares Migration Emergency in Canary Islands After Record Arrivals
Spain declared a migration emergency in the Canary Islands after more than 9,000 people arrived since the start of November. Rescuers picked up 1,488 migrants on Saturday alone, passing a record set in November 2020, and a minister visits El Hierro on Sunday.
Spain has declared a migration emergency in the Canary Islands after a record number of migrants arrive in the Atlantic archipelago, with more than 9,000 people reaching the territory since the start of November 2026.
Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it rescued 1,488 migrants aboard 14 dinghies, also known as pirogues, on Saturday. Most landed on El Hierro from West Africa.
That figure breaks the previous record of 1,461 people rescued in a single day in November 2020, six years earlier.
Spain's Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres is visiting El Hierro on Sunday to discuss the surge in arrivals.
Al Jazeera correspondent Bernard Smith, reporting from El Hierro, said this year's arrivals are the highest in the 32 years that statistics have been collected. "There's been even more arrivals by Sunday afternoon," he said.
New arrivals are processed at the port in El Hierro and taken to a reception centre. They are then sent on to other Canary Islands or to the Spanish mainland, Smith said.
One boat on Saturday carried 240 people, including 12 women and 36 children, authorities said.
Dangerous route from West Africa
Most migrants reaching El Hierro leave from West Africa, many from Senegal, hoping to reach mainland Europe. They cross in small, often overcrowded boats.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded at least 450 deaths on the Western African Atlantic route in the first 10 months of 2026.
Nicolas Haque, reporting from Dakar in Senegal, called it "a treacherous journey". He said favorable weather in the Atlantic has made departures much easier in recent years. Migrants use "wooden fishing vessels called pirogues" that can hold up to 100 people for "a journey that can last one week", he said.
Pressure on EU rules
The European Union's new Pact on Migration and Asylum took effect on June 12, 2026. It introduced "firm and fair rules" for accepting asylum requests, in the most sweeping overhaul of EU asylum and border law in decades.
Smith said EU states are under pressure to do more to control migration from Africa and from outside the bloc. The new rules, he added, have not stopped the flow of migrants to Spain and its enclaves.
Spain also faced a mass crossing at its North African enclave of Ceuta in late July, when 80,000 people entered from Morocco over 48 hours. At least 100 people died. Last month, Spain deported more than a dozen of those who crossed.
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