Greater information transmitted more quickly about the incessant arrivals of immigrants to the Spanish coasts, and even a system that allows us to know more quickly how many of them end up registering in the country. That is the commitment that the acting Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, made this Tuesday with autonomous communities and city councils, after meeting with his representatives by videoconference to explain the territorial distribution of the almost 43,000 reception places already occupied. by foreigners in an irregular situation, compared to the 44,000 who have reached the beaches so far in 2023, which is already the second year with the most arrivals so far this century.
In the virtual meeting, 22 city councils from the largest cities in Spain were represented and also from the localities that are hosting the largest number of migrants in relation to their population, as well as the president of the Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), María. José García Pelayo. The president of the Cabildo of El Hierro, Alpidio Armas, also participated, the territory that in recent weeks has been receiving the largest number of undocumented people through canoes and similar boats from the northwest of the African continent, in addition to the immigration affairs advisors of the 17 autonomous communities.
According to data from the ministry, since August of this year, 28,000 immigrants have arrived on the Spanish coasts and there are already 44,000 so far this year, thus surpassing the 39,180 people who reached the beaches in 2006 in what was then called the ‘crisis of the cayucos’. Likewise, 70% of the irregular entries recorded in these ten months, some 30,000 people, correspond to the Canary Islands. In any case, 2023 is already the second year since 1999 with the highest arrival of migrants by sea, only surpassed by 2018 when 57,498 people arrived, although in that case the vast majority arrived on the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
Regarding the distribution of reception places for the current year, Andalusia (9,874), the Canary Islands (3,363), Catalonia (6,023) and Madrid (3,935) are the regions that have the most according to the figures provided by the Government. In addition, the minister has reported the 3,000 places that will be added soon with the opening of resources in disused military sites in Madrid (1,220), Cartagena (600) and Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) (1,134), in addition to the open center itself in Mérida a few days ago (800), Europa Press reports. For their part, the majority of city councils and communities have insisted on their complaints for not having received this type of information with sufficient notice, since the transfers of immigrants from the Canary Islands to points on the Peninsula in this last wave of arrivals began, at at least a week ago.
One third, sub-Saharan
Among the people currently served in the resources there are multiple nationalities. Specifically, one in four are Latin, one in three sub-Saharan, one in eight are Ukrainian and one in eight are North African, 5% are Syrian or Afghan. According to Escrivá, the reception system is prepared to manage situations of increased arrivals as has happened on previous occasions, for example, in the summer of 2021 due to the fall of Kabul or at the beginning of 2023 as a result of the war in Ukraine. However, he acknowledged that this time other resources are also being used to accommodate foreigners in an irregular situation, such as hotel and hostel beds.
On this occasion, he highlighted that the reasons for the rebound in arrivals in recent weeks are fundamentally two: the greater social and political instability in Senegal and a prolonged period of good sea conditions. He also highlighted the increase in unaccompanied minors (4,700 since August), the concentration of arrivals to El Hierro (a third of arrivals since August) and the greater proportion of sub-Saharans (70% of the total).
Finally, the minister pointed out that this migratory episode “will not have a significant impact on the educational or health systems of the different territories, due to the profile of the people who have arrived in recent weeks” (most of them of legal age and in good health). health condition).
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