He Pope Francis confirmed on Friday that he plans to visit the Canary Islands for the migration crisis that the islands are experiencing and showed their “closeness to the leaders and the people”, during the press conference on board the plane returning from their tour of Asia and Oceania.I think a little about this, about going to the Canary Islands because there is the situation of migrants arriving from the sea and I would like to be close to the leaders and the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.“, the Pope said when asked about a possible visit to the islands, which could take place as a stopover during a possible trip to Argentina.
As previously stated, One of the options that has been considered is that the visit to the Canary Islands is a stopover on your trip to your country.since the 87-year-old pontiff himself has confirmed that he wants to travel to Argentina, although today he has acquired more strength that if he goes to the archipelago, it will be a unique trip. On the other hand, the trip to Argentina “is not decided”, according to Francisco himself, before adding: “I would like to go there. “It’s my city, but it’s not decided, there are several things to sort out first.”thus removing the possibility of travel.
The possibility of Francisco moving to Canarias has been on the table since January 22ndwhen the Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, He confirmed after his meeting at the Vatican that the Pope had told him that “he would think about it” and showed him that he was aware of the humanitarian emergency that is being experienced on the Atlantic Route. With a possible visit to the Canary Islands, Francis would become the first pontiff to set foot on the archipelago, and it would also be his first trip to Spain.
A A total of 6,267 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands during the months of July and August. and with these numbers of arrivals this summer, it is a record since there are statistics and they are significantly different in the number of the last five years of the same period. Until September, 25,524 people arrived on the coasts of the Canaries, which represents an increase of 123% compared to the same period of 2023.
The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, recently stressed that if Pope Francis finally visits Spain, “By intuition” the chosen place could be the Canary Islandsto learn about the situation of the hundreds of immigrants who arrive on its shores every month from Africa.
