Migrant Arrivals Putting Pressure on Spain’s Canary Islands

Migrants from a group of 1300 rescued from different boats remain in the port of Arguineguin while being cared for by the Spanish Red Cross and the National Police on the Spanish Canary island of Gran Canaria on Oct. 25, 2020. Desiree Martin/AFP via Getty Images

MADRID—Spanish rescue services have located 1,300 migrants in four days in the Atlantic Ocean and transferred them to the southern Canary Islands, further straining local emergency response capabilities as makeshift military camps for the newcomers were being readied.

The latest to arrive were 27 men from northern Africa who were picked up from the high seas early on Nov. 16, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service told The Associated Press, adding to the 1,275 people found from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15 aboard 42 boats.