Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government established a 10-day deadline to find a temporary solution to the overcrowding of migrant reception centres in the Canary Islands, according to Euractiv.
The centres are packed due to an influx of migrants arriving on boats from West Africa. However, arrivals along the deadly Atlantic route continued despite the harsh winter sea conditions.
Last summer, the opposition Partido Popular (PP) party called for a state of emergency over migration, with parliamentary representative Miguel Tellado proposing the deployment of the army to curb irregular migration. As a result, the regional PP coalition and Coalición Canaria pledged to develop a temporary solution within 10 days.
The Sánchez government would also have to overcome the dissent of Catalonia’s JxCat party, which provides key support to Spain’s prime minister until the end of his term in 2027.
Some 4,000 minors from the region and another 400 from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa are pending transfer to mainland Spain, according to the Canary Islands government. Islands President Fernando Clavijo stated on Wednesday that the emergency measure could take the form of a decree-law as a first step.
No one can be against alleviating the absolute emergency we have in the Canary Islands.
