Migratory pressure has overwhelmed the Canary Islands in recent days and the central government has chosen to transfer 321 migrants, all of them men of sub-Saharan origin, to Almería. The operation, carried out through the Secretary of State for Migration, began this morning, when several buses left Madrid bound for Andalusia.
Once on Andalusian soil, the sub-Saharans have been referred to the Alegría Hotel in the El Toyo neighborhood, where several non-governmental and humanitarian aid organizations are working to meet their needs.
At the moment, the Government Subdelegation in the city has not offered more details about the reasons for this transfer, but the one who has spoken out has been the mayor of Almería, María del Mar Vázquez (PP), who has disfigured the Government's attitude. central in this matter since the receiving council was informed of this operation just 2 hours before its launch.
"Almería is a welcoming land, we are a territory of solidarity with people who come from other countries," he expressed, as he pointed out that in the province 117 nationals coexist in "harmony", however, Vázquez did not think it was The modus operandi with which this transfer has been launched is appropriate. "In such a sensitive situation, where we are talking about people, collaboration between institutions is essential," he stressed. "It is institutional disloyalty not to have counted on us to be part of both the organization and the decision-making," he criticized.
The mayor, on the other hand, wanted to send a message of "full solidarity" with the Canary Islands, a place that has been overwhelmed in recent weeks with the incessant arrival of canoes and boats transporting hundreds of people seeking a better life.
As far as has been reported, the Red Cross has deployed an operation to assist the more than 300 migrants who have landed in Almería after arriving in a cayuco to the Canary Islands. Their transfer coincides with the record weekend recorded in the Islands, to whose shores more than 2,000 people have arrived in different boats in recent days.
In the last few hours, 382 boat occupants have arrived in El Hierro and Tenerife, although the weekend was especially intense for the rescue services.
On Saturday alone, seven precarious boats with a thousand occupants were assisted, including a canoe with 320 migrants, the largest on record in the Canary Islands, while early on Monday Salvamento Marítimo rescued a canoe with 229 migrants in the waters. near El Hierro, among which there were 24 minors.
Likewise, near the island of Tenerife, another boat was rescued with 85 men, including 13 minors, who were assisted by the medical device at the Los Cristianos dock, in Arona.
Previously, late on Sunday afternoon, Salvamento provided help to another boat, with 68 people, who were transferred to the Las Galletas dock, in Arona, where two people had to be transferred due to different pathologies. These join two other canoes, one with 81 occupants and the other with 93, that arrived in El Hierro and another 139 arrived at the Arguineguín dock (Gran Canaria) in four boats.
