Arrivals have outpaced El Hierro’s ability to transfer people elsewhere, Cabildo president Alpidio Armas told RTVE’s Canal 24 Horas. The island declared a social emergency on Saturday after 8,000 people arrived in five weeks.
The government has called an extraordinary meeting of its Interministerial Commission on Immigration for Tuesday 10 November, before the Council of Ministers. The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory confirmed the meeting. Minister Ángel Víctor Torres will chair it, with Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo and Armas attending.
The commission includes ministers responsible for foreign affairs and European cooperation, as well as interior and migration. Its remit also covers social security and labour, alongside social rights. Youth and children fall within its scope, too. These central government departments are relevant to the response.
National migration operations also include reception and relocation in Ceuta. In a 3 November update, the Government of Spain reported 6,113 adult triages. It also reported 14,818 returns to countries of origin and 7,507 places in state accommodation, of which 5,957 were occupied. The update recorded 3,650 minors in Ceuta’s regional protection system. That total included 135 transfers to mainland Spain for family reunification and 181 relocations to other autonomous communities under Article 35 of Spain’s Immigration Act.
Clavijo announced the meeting on social media after speaking with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He said Sánchez had been told about the pressure on El Hierro and growing discontent among residents. Clavijo also said the prime minister had committed to convening the commission urgently and reinforcing healthcare resources through the State Secretariat for Migration.
The Canary Islands government has also sought extra police and Civil Guard officers for El Hierro, as reported in an earlier report. Clavijo said the commission meeting is intended to agree a joint plan between the two governments and relevant ministries, with specific measures and deadlines.
He also told Sánchez that he had requested urgent meetings with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner. No dates for those meetings were given.
