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GRAN CANARIA. On the other side of the hotel complex and the tourist beach, behind the luxurious catamarans along the port, thousands of migrants have lived during the year.
The holiday islands have experienced a volume of migrants in 2020 that had not been seen since the crisis of 2006.
– They are bad for the economy, bad for tourism, says a local fisherman and nods to the hundreds of people who crowd the dock of the Arguineguín port.
The corona pandemic has hit the tourist paradise hard. The small town of Arguineguín usually houses 2,500 people, which makes it one of the most visited tourist areas in Gran Canaria. It has even been amusingly called an unofficial Norwegian colony because many Norwegians traveled there for decades to enjoy the heat.
But when it comes to newcomers from Africa, mainly from Morocco, whose coastline is only a few kilometers from the island kingdom, the tone is different.
Thousands flock to the pier
In 2020, just over 21,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands. This compares with 2006, when the Canary Islands were last on the ballot due to increasing numbers of immigrants. Then 31,000 people came.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
A few weeks ago the Arguineguín pier was closed to migrants.
In mid-November this year, when the situation was at its worst, according to local media, almost 2,600 people slept on the small dock, which was only equipped with 13 tents and 25 bajamajor.
Two men cleaning tuna debris from their boat near the dock make clear their thoughts about immigration.
– It’s bad for the economy. Bad for tourism! Says one of them and nods towards the pier.
The fishermen do not want to be in the photo, but they are happy to continue talking about the situation on the island. In Spanish mixed with a rude Canarian accent and English, they talk about their views on migrants. What if they bring the coronavirus here? Or worse yet, what if they come with Ebola?
Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to talk to someone who has recently arrived on the island. Police guard the pier when Aftonbladet is in place in early November.
Those who have moved from there to hotels, formerly destined for tourism, continue to say hello from the balconies. After a confrontation in mid-December, when a group of local youths gathered outside the gates of the hotel complex and shouted racist comments. Finally, the Red Cross also urged migrants not to leave hotels.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
Most of the people still on the islands now live in hotels.
The pandemic behind increased migration
The 25-year-old Senegalese fisherman Modou Fall tells El País that he never really planned to migrate.
– I earned enough to survive and I love Senegal. He was happy there, he says.
He has children in his home country that he misses a lot. With the sea as his place of work, he did not fear the nearly two-week trip to Gran Canaria, where the newspaper finds him.
– The price of fish fell with the pandemic. Before we sold a kilo for 2.4 euros, but in recent months we have not been able to get more than 0.45 euros. There came a time when he could no longer afford gas or food, he says.
More than 500 people have drowned on the road, in what is now called the deadliest migration route. Hundreds more have disappeared and the death toll is feared to be higher than was reported.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
There is no plan for where the migrants will go.
Solution required before new year
A few weeks ago the Arguineguín pier was closed to migrants. Most of the people still on the islands now live in hotels that have often been paid for by human rights organizations like the Red Cross to house them.
Onalia Bueno, mayor of Mogán, where Arguineguín is located, demanded that the Spanish government help the island find new places for migrants to live before the end of 2020. She threatens the hotels that still house them with fines.
There is no plan of where to go. To avoid attracting more immigrants through the sea, the Spanish government does not want to transfer them to the mainland. They are also unable to stay on resort islands – the pandemic has made it difficult for even locals to walk. There are no jobs.
The Spanish government, which has long been accused of ignoring the problems that have arisen in the Canary Islands, has now started talks with Senegal, Algeria or Morocco back. In that case, life-threatening trips would have been in vain.
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