Thread by @Xy5Z89

#Spain #CanaryIslands #Refugees

From Saturday to Monday morning, 2206 migrants in a total of 58 open wooden boats arrived on the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa, which belong to Spain.

This is how many people from African countries were last registered during the refugee crisis, reported the Europa Press news agency. The Canaries include the islands of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro,

which are also popular with tourists, as well as six other islands.Most of the people who leave their African homeland because of poverty, violence and the consequences of the corona pandemic came to the pier in the port city of Areguineguín in southwest Gran Canaria to register.

There, about 1,800 people would crowd under the open sky in a confined space, wrote Europa Press. Since January, the number of migrants reaching the archipelago by sea has risen to around 13,700. That was about six times as many as in the entire previous year.

After registration, many will be accommodated in hotels that are vacant due to the Corona crisis. The Canary Islands are only about 100 kilometers west of the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic.

The somewhat larger boats in particular set sail up to 1,600 kilometers away in Senegal. The open Atlantic is very dangerous for the boats, which are mostly only powered by outboard motors.