Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tours Africa to try to stem immigration

The Spanish government of socialist Pedro Sanchez is facing a spectacular increase in the arrival of illegal migrants this fall, mainly in the Canary Islands, which feels abandoned by Madrid and Europe. Not a day goes by without the rescue services reporting the arrival of a makeshift boat carrying dozens of migrants in one of the Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of the African continent.

So much so that Pedro Sanchez has decided to tour, from Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 August, three West African countries that play a central role in this area: Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal. Mauritania has become the main departure point for migrants in recent months. According to a source from the Spanish government presidency, this country is currently home to some 200,000 refugees who are victims of the instability in the Sahel, including many Malians, who are potential candidates for departure to the Canaries.

The total value of the agreements that will be signed with these countries – including Mauritania, where Pedro Sanchez had already visited in February – to help them and encourage them to redouble their efforts to prevent these departures is not known.

The president of the regional government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, urged the European Union (EU) on Friday to take responsibility “so that the Canaries do not have to bear all the migratory pressure from Europe alone”because these migrants “are arriving in Europe, in Spain, and not just in the Canaries”In fact, the Canaries, and more generally Spain, are often only a stopover on the road to other European countries, first and foremost France.

Between 1^er January and August 15, 22,304 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, compared to 9,864 for the same period in 2023, an increase of 126%. For Spain as a whole, the increase is 66% (from 18,745 to 31,155). In addition, this upward trend is expected to increase by the end of the year due to the expected improvement in navigation conditions in this area of ​​the Atlantic.

The unprecedented figure of 39,910 arrivals recorded last year will therefore probably be shattered, confirming that this Atlantic route to the Canaries has become the main access route for migrants to Spain, despite its extreme danger, which causes the death of thousands of them each year.

The problem of unaccompanied minors

The first migrants arrived in the archipelago in August 1994. But the Canaries are not the only region in southern Spain affected by this phenomenon. The small city of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave located on the northern coast of Morocco, has also recorded a sharp increase in arrivals in recent weeks. Ceuta is one of only two land borders between the EU and the African continent – ​​the other being Melilla, another Spanish enclave located further east.

For these regions, the most pressing problem is that of minor migrants arriving alone, known in Spain as “MENA” (unaccompanied foreign minors), whose situation has major domestic policy implications. Because while adult migrants fall under the financial jurisdiction of the central state, those under 18, on the other hand, are the exclusive responsibility of the regions.

The Spanish regions on the front line are therefore completely overwhelmed by the explosion in the number of minor migrants they have to take care of. In the Canary Islands, the regional government currently has to provide for the needs of 5,100 foreign minors, while the capacity of the reception centres is only 2,000 people. The situation is similar in Ceuta.

The Canary Islands archipelago is “on the verge of collapse”said Fernando Clavijo in an interview published Monday by the daily The World, fearing “a disaster” this fall and even expecting that the number of arrivals could reach 50,000 this year.

To solve this problem, Pedro Sanchez's government tried to get Parliament to vote in July on a change to the immigration law to give the central government the right to distribute foreign minors among all the regions of the country. But the Popular Party (right), Vox (far right) and the Catalan independence party of Carles Puigdemont, who advocate a tougher policy against illegal immigration, prevented any discussion of the text.

For the time being, the government of the Canaries is left to its own devices and feels abandoned in the face of a phenomenon that is beyond its control and which will continue to get worse. “We can't put walls on the ocean”sums up, fatalistically, Fernando Clavijo in the interview with The World.