Spain ignores migrant crisis from Ceuta to Canary Islands

The arrival of more than 4,000 migrants on El Hierro and a 1,050% increase in boats compared to the previous year have pushed the Canary Islands into what President Fernando Clavijo calls an "unsustainable" situation. The central government faces the crisis without management that ABC's editorial considers sufficient.

The Canary island of **El Hierro** received more than **4,000 migrants** arriving in small boats from Senegal and Gambia until Friday, November 6, 2026. Across the archipelago, using the same days of the previous year as reference, there was a **1,050%** increase in vessels and a **788.43%** rise in migrants. These figures describe an unstoppable route and an institutional response that, according to the newspaper, falls short.

## Minister visits Senegal but flow continues

The Interior Minister asked authorities in **Senegal**, where he traveled on Friday, November 6, 2026, to increase pressure on the mafias organizing departures. Control has been insufficient: the flow of boats has not stopped growing despite the deployment of the **Guardia Civil** (Civil Guard) to collaborate with the Senegalese government. The route linking the coasts of Senegal and Gambia with the Canary Islands has become one of the most active migratory corridors in the Atlantic.

Regional President **Fernando Clavijo** has described the situation as "unsustainable" and warned that it "is going to get worse." He sent a letter to **Pedro Sánchez** urging a meeting. ABC's editorial argues that this encounter will only happen if electoral calculations favor the Socialist candidate, comparing the Executive's attitude to its stance on Ceuta: looking away and disengaging from management. The Cabildo de El Hierro (Island Council), led by Socialists, declared a social emergency by decree, a measure the newspaper considers insufficient while the central government does not assume responsibility.

## Transfers to mainland and ineffective video

Migrants entering El Hierro are transferred by ferry to other islands and then by flight to the mainland, with looser migration filters to identify them and assess their status. The editorial stresses that the inability to return them immediately shows how the legal reception system nullifies its own deterrent function. It also notes that the **Ministry of Health** releasing a video reminding migrants that medical care in Spain is free does not help. The newspaper views this as an incentive for irregular entry and a misleading claim, since that healthcare is funded by taxpayers. No public service is free, it concludes.

## EU looks to Canaries in December

Clavijo has requested intervention from the **European Union**. The editorial defends that such involvement would be a catalyst to channel the current crisis and strengthen collaboration with African countries serving as departure points for routes to the islands. Routes plagued by shipwrecks whose exact death toll remains unknown. European Commission Executive Vice-President **Raffaele Fitto** will visit the Canary Islands in early December 2026 to see the situation on the ground. The newspaper asks that future visits by Spanish Interior Ministers to Senegal or Gambia include a European representative, to project the image that the Canaries are European territory, including its waters.

## Ceuta, the frozen photo ignored by Government

While the Canaries suffer this surge, the situation in **Ceuta** remains unresolved. The city has not recovered the calm prior to the mass entry on July 30 and 31, because thousands of migrants still occupy public spaces without a response guaranteeing returns to **Segarro**. Its President, **Juan Jesús Vivas**, states that the city still feels invaded. A Guardia Civil report submitted to Magistrate **María Tardón** puts at **88,146** the number of migrants who returned to Segarro voluntarily, implying that those who entered exceeded 100,000. The editorial concludes that Ceuta has disappeared from the Government's discourse because it is an electoral burden, describing it as the synthesis of a power style the newspaper labels Neronian: holidays at La Mareta while Ceuta collapsed.