by Gavin Blackburn
and AP
It’s published •update
Spain’s emergency services said he died on Wednesday when a small ship carrying immigrants capsized.
Spanish maritime rescuers, who had boats about 9.6 kilometers from the coast, said the boat was turned over as rescuers began to take away the children when they arrived at the dock on El Hiero Island.
Local media said the small boat appeared to be packed with over 100 people.
Spanish rescuers and members of the Red Cross were involved in the rescue operation, pulling several people out of the water.
Situated off the west coast of Africa, the Spanish archipelago has been a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe for many years.
But it is also the most dangerous in the world, when Spanish immigration rights group Kaminando Fronteras (Walking Border) reported in January that more than 10,000 people died last year after attempting to arrive in the archipelago.
But record numbers of immigrants are even more fortunate, with Canary Islands authorities saying more than 43,000 people arrived there in 2024.
As the transition is also at the top of the Council of Europe agenda, several EU member states have begun updating their transition policies.
In a letter to EU member states, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed speeding up the return of asylum seekers and opening detention centres in third countries following the precedent set by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni through a controversial agreement with Albania.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government announced last year that an emergency reception centre was opened at Ciudad Real airport to address asylum requests from irregular arrivals.
And in March, Madrid adopted measures to redistribute thousands of unaccompanied migrant minors who are currently evacuating the Canary Islands to other parts of Spain.
The reforms aimed to end a months-long political deadlock between Spanish regions and the central government, and to ease pressure on overcrowded immigration acceptance centres, primarily in the Canary Islands.
For months, local Canary leaders have complained about the lack of resources to protect thousands of unaccompanied children and teenagers reaching the coast.
The Canary Islands protect more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors across the archipelago.
