The smallest Canary Island is receiving hundreds of boat migrants a day and asks Madrid and the region for reinforcements
El Hierro, home to some 11,000 people, has seen more than 8,000 arrivals in about five weeks; the Spanish government is convening an interministerial committee.
The island council of El Hierro declared a social emergency late last week, the Spanish news agency EFE reports via Infobae. Council president Alpidio Armas signed a decree that allows the island to formally request help from the Canary Islands and Spanish governments. It does not grant any special powers, Que.es stresses. The island is asking for more staff and relief shifts for the maritime rescue service, health care, the police, the Red Cross and NGOs, better arrangements for moving migrants to larger islands, and stronger first-reception facilities.
The numbers are exceptional for an island of around 11,000 inhabitants. More than 3,000 people arrived in five days aboard some thirty boats, and more than 8,000 in about five weeks, Moncloa.com writes. On Saturday three more boats carrying 314 people docked at the small harbour of La Restinga, while some 600 people were taken to Tenerife by ferry. According to NOS, most of the new arrivals come from Senegal and Gambia and the hospital's emergency department is full; its director wants a field hospital at the port.
The Spanish government has convened the interministerial committee on immigration to coordinate its response with the Canary Islands government and the island, Moncloa.com reports. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska was in Senegal this week, which he said has intercepted 64 boats carrying more than 4,000 people so far this year. The Red Cross estimates, according to NOS, that 5 to 8 percent of those who set out from Africa for the Canary Islands die on the way.