Photo credit: the Guardian
Hundreds of people protested against the influx of migrants to the Canary Islands on Saturday.
The Guardian reports that the canary Islands have received over 19,000 migrants since the beginning of 2024. since it is located off the coast of north-west Africa, the destination has become attractive to people braving the perilous Atlantic crossing in the hope of finding a better life in Europe.
The demonstrators were carrying placards reading, “Defend our neighborhoods” and “Stop illegal migration”. They paraded the streets of towns including Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Local media put their numbers at several hundred.
A participant in the demonstration in Tenerife, Juan Manuel Garcia said, “This situation in the Canaries is unbearable”.
Several lawyers had asked the public prosecutor’s office to ban the demonstrations because they could constitute a hate crime. But the authorities did not act on that request.
