Maritime Rescue rescued during the afternoon and evening of Wednesday three cayucos with 220 migrants in the waters near the islands of El Hierro and Tenerife, as reported by the Canary Islands 112 Emergency and Security Coordination Center and the Red Cross.
The first rescued boat, with 51 immigrants, arrived at the La Restinga (El Hierro) dock early in the afternoon, where the 72 people from another located cayuco were transferred a few hours later.
The third boat, with 97 immigrants, was rescued on Wednesday night in the waters near the island of Tenerife, transporting them to the Los Cristianos dock, in Arona, where they arrived at dawn this Thursday.
All migrants were assisted by the health system in the area, made up of personnel from the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), Primary Care and the Red Cross, who needed transfer to health center two people for different pathologies.
Ferry rescues boat with 19 people
Furthermore, a ferry which provides the Algeria-Marseille link rescued 19 people aboard a boat of approximately 80 miles south of Cabrera Island.
According to information provided by the Government Delegation, the rescue took place this Wednesday, around 9:20 p.m., and the migrants are all of North African origin and are apparently in good health.
The rescue was carried out the ship Jean Nicole and the group is being transferred to the port of Palma, where they will disembark.
El Hierro and Lanzarote represent two thirds of migrants rescued in the Canary Islands
El Hierro and Lanzarote have so far welcomed two out of three immigrants rescued to the Canary Islands in 2024, a year that will go down in history as that of the greatest number of people arriving along the Atlantic Route aboard small boats and cayucos, since it has already exceeded the 40,000 mark.
According to a count from the Red Cross, until Wednesday the islands had arrived irregularly 40,019 immigrants in 593 boats, that is already 109 more people than in the whole of 2023 (39,910, data from the Ministry of the Interior), a year which until now marked the maximum for the Canary Route.
Half of them, 19,689 (49.19%), landed in El Hierro, a figure that This almost doubles the recorded population on this islandwhere 11,646 people live, according to the latest official census.
Towards El Hierro Lanzarote follows this year, with 6,472 immigrants rescued and landed on its shores (16.17% of the total); Gran Canaria, with 5,714 (14.28%); and Tenerife, with 4,856 (12.13%).
The balance sheet is completed by the 2,660 people rescued in Fuerteventura (6.64%) and the 628 in La Gomera (1.53%).
This year, no canoes have reached La Palma so far, a situation which is always very rare, because the boats that could land on this island are earlier in their north-south route to the coast of El Hierro.
Of the 40,019 immigrants rescued in the Canary Islands six weeks before the end of the year, 2,823 are women, or 7.05%.
In 2024, one in six people rescued is a minor. More precisely, 5,992, or 14.97% of the total.
The island that has received the most minors to date is El Hierro, with 3,074, followed by Lanzarote, with 953; Gran Canaria, with 781; Tenerife, 723; Fuerteventura, with 383; and La Gomera, with 78.
Throughout the year, the Ministries of the Interior and Social Inclusion continued their efforts Canary Islands Adult Referral Policy to reception centers on the peninsula so as not to saturate the islands’ primary care resources.
According to figures published by the Government Delegation, there are currently around 6,000 adults in reception centers in the Canary Islands, to which is added a similar number of minors under the supervision of the autonomous community, or almost 6,000 children and adolescents.
