As happened during the previous visit to Mauritania of the President of the Government, Pedro SanchezThe Interior Ministry has ordered the deployment of a maritime surveillance aircraft Civil Guard who was in Canary Islands. This time the plane flew from Gando (Gran Canaria) to Dakar (Senegal), which coincides precisely with the arrival of Sánchez in this African country as part of his monographic tour on illegal immigration, during which he proposed creating 250,000 jobs for immigrants from this area of the Sahel.
Moncloa has already prepared the ground for Sánchez’s visit to Senegal, the last stop on his African tour that has taken him to Mauritania and Gambia in recent days. There, in addition to promising aid more than 500 million euros and announce a Immigrant job bank with 250,000 jobsSanchez will close his official trip with which the course begins.
To reinforce the image that his government is effectively combating illegal immigration, something that is openly questioned in the Canary Islands given the more than 22,000 arrivals recorded so far this year, the Interior Ministry of Fernando Grande-Marlaska ordered a C-235 plane from the Civil Guard, deployed in the Canary Islands, to go to Senegal.
In this way, the plane will patrol the coasts of the African country during Sánchez’s stay, who will return to Spain this Thursday. It is not ruled out that a presidential visit to the plane and its Civil Guard crew could even be included during Sánchez’s visit to Dakar.
The C-235 arrived in Senegal last Wednesday afternoon, coinciding with the arrival of Sánchez’s presidential plane. Thus, the plane had to stop its surveillance activity in the Canary Islands. It had been 3 months since I had set foot on African soil.the latter coinciding with an official trip by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares.
Previously sent to the Canary Islands
After a missing August From the skies of the Canary Islands, in the midst of the crisis, the Civil Guard planes were ordered to return to the islands to carry out aerial surveillance services over the Atlantic waters. It should not be forgotten that Sánchez spent part of his holidays in Lanzarote.
As confirmed by OKDIARIO, the Civil Guard plane, a C-235 with the identifier AME6009, took off on Sunday mid-morning from the military air base of Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), where it has its stable base, and landed in the military zone of the airport of Gando after three in the afternoon. However, the plane only stayed one day in the Canary Islands and was sent back to Dakar (Senegal), where it will coincide with Sánchez’s visit.
This deployment once again coincides with an official trip by the government, in this case by the president, as has happened in the past – as revealed by OKDIARIO – with other visits to Africa by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. A few months ago, a C-235 of the Civil Guard was also deployed to Mauritania, coinciding with Sánchez’s visit to Von der Leyen in Mauritania to deal with immigration. In all these cases, the plane was withdrawn to Madrid once these visits were completed.
“Obscene”
These decisions have already caused unease within the Civil Guard, where it is considered “obscene” to send these planes for the photo current policy and does not take into account the specific needs of a mission as complex as that of Canarian immigration.
Meanwhile, the number of illegal immigrants continues to soar. Of the 31,115 illegal immigrants who arrived in Spain between January 1 and August 15, 2024, 22,304 did so by boat to the Canary Islands. They represent more than 75% of the total and the data already exceeds all records since there are historical records. State security officials warn that the peaks of mafia activity of the first weeks of autumn have not yet been reached, dates when the intensity of arrivals skyrockets. The panorama shows an unprecedented crisis.
Frontex Opinion
Moncloa did not want to involve Morocco in this monographic tour on immigration, even though, as Frontex points out, Moroccans are one of the nationalities in its latest situation report. top 3 of the number of them who arrive in the Canary Islands by the route they call West Africa -West Africa-.
In fact, this agency which depends on the European Union It also highlights the worrying figures of illegal immigration that this route of the Canary Islands reaches, which already threatens to displace other main routes. For example, that of Lampedusaof the Mediterranean Centerwhose figures continue to place it as the main one with 32,239 arrivals, but which in 2024 experienced a decrease of 64% compared to 2023. The Canary Islands, on the other hand, skyrocketed by 154%, being by far the maritime route that is growing the most.
