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Barcelona: Spanish authorities on one of the Canary Islands declared an emergency on Saturday after a surge in migrant boat arrivals, demanding government assistance to cope with the influx.
"We are very concerned... by this sharp increase in arrivals," Alpidio Armas, head of the governing council for the island of El Hierro, told Spanish television.
"This is precisely what has led us to declare an emergency in order to ensure a framework of cooperation with higher-level institutions."
Several thousand migrants have reached the Atlantic archipelago in recent weeks, many of them landing on El Hierro.
Since the start of November, more than 3,300 people have arrived on the island aboard around 30 boats, according to local authorities.
Officials are seeking temporary accommodation for the new arrivals, while conditions at the island's hospital have become "undesirable", Armas said.
This period of the year is usually marked by an increase in arrivals to the Canary Islands because of favourable sailing conditions.
However, local authorities warned that an approaching storm expected overnight could make the crossing more dangerous for migrants currently at sea.
Two dead migrants were found on a boat attempting to reach the Canaries earlier this week, while another five are believed to have died during the voyage, according to survivor accounts.
After reaching a record of more than 46,000 arrivals in 2024, irregular migration to the Canaries fell sharply, largely due to tighter surveillance and increased cooperation with countries of origin and transit.
A total of 13,327 irregular migrants arrived in the Canary Islands by sea between January 1 and October 31, a 5.5 percent decrease compared with the same period last year, according to interior ministry figures.
