The inclement weather that affected any parts of the Canaries, including the seas around the islands, did not deter dozens of migrants from making the perilous boat crossing from the coast of Africa over the weekend.
Three long wooden cayuco boats made it to El Hierro and Gran Canaria, carrying over 200 migrants, all believed to be from sub-Saharan Africa.
The arrivals began on Saturday evening when a boat was sighted off the coast of El Hierro, the westernmost of the Canary Islands. The reports led the Acrux rescue vessel to be dispatched to its last known location some 9 km off the island and the boat and its 61 occupants were safely escorted to La Restinga harbour, where emergency services were on hand to take care of them.
In the early hours of Sunday, coastal radars detected the presence of another boat, this time 16 km off El Hierro and again a rescue vessel was sent to its aid, escorting the cayuco into La Restinga with approximately 65 sub-Saharans on board, including 11 women and several children.
Hours later, at just after 5am on Sunday, a third cayuco was picked up by radar 13 km off the south coast of Gran Canaria. The boat appeared unable to make it to the coast and its almost 90 occupants had to be transferred to the Maritime Search and Rescue service’s fast response vessel Urania for the journey into Arguineguín.
The latest arrivals come at a time when negotiations continue between the Canarian and Spanish governments over resourcing of the care required for the high numbers of African migrants currently in the Canaries, a region acknowledged by the EU as suffering the highest migratory pressure in Europe. According to official figures, 46,843 migrants landed in the islands last year, the biggest ever annual total in 30 years of migrant landings.
