Ten boats carrying nearly 900 migrants arrive in the Canary Islands this Friday

At least 881 Sub-Saharan migrants arrived in the Canary Islands today (Friday) in ten boats of various sizes, with four of them landing on the island of El Hierro, three in Tenerife, and three on Gran Canaria, according to sources from Maritime Rescue. The majority of the migrants are adult males, but the provisional count includes 12 women and 58 under 18 years old.

The La Restinga pier in El Hierro saw the most landings, with four cayucos carrying a total of 441 people, which were all detected by radar and met by boats from Maritime Rescue out at sea.

The first one arrived in the early hours of this morning with 103 Sub-Saharan people on board, including 93 males, seven females, and three minors. This vessel was spotted by the SIVE coastal surveillance system radar nine kilometres from the coast, and the Salvamar Adhara sailed to escort it to the dock.

At 8:20am, another vessel with 112 people on board, including 110 adult males and two minors, was towed to La Restinga, and less than an hour later, another one was escorted by the Salvamar Adhara to El Hierro with 62 Sub-Saharan males on board.

Early this afternoon, the fourth boat of the day was spotted by radar near El Hierro, thirteen kilometres from La Restinga. It arrived at the port at 1:30pm with 164 migrants on board, including 130 men, four women, and 30 minors.

The three boats that arrived on Tenerife were transporting a total of 287 people. The first one reached the port of Los Cristianos near midnight with 82 Sub-Saharan males, including 17 minors. Another vessel was located by the SIVE radar fifteen kilometres south of Punta de Rasca, and the Salvamar Alpheratz set out to escort it also to the port of Los Cristianos, with 85 people on board, including 78 males, one female, and six minors.

A third vessel arrived in Tenerife around 1:30pm with 120 migrants on board, which had been located 14 kilometres south of Punta de Rasca and was escorted by the Salvamar Alpheratz again to the same port in the south of the island.

In Gran Canaria, the first vessel arrived at the port of Arguineguín with 74 Sub-Saharan males. It had been detected by radar nine kilometres from the coast, and the Salvamar Macondo set out to meet it. The radar detected another vessel approaching Maspalomas, which was confirmed by a Red Cross motorboat. Maritime Rescue went to meet it and guided it to Arguineguín with 29 adult Sub-Saharan males on board.

In the same area, the Salvamar Macondo went to meet another cayuco, estimated to be carrying around fifty people.