Spanish defense minister Margarita Robles has responded to a request made by the Canary Islands government for assistance with dealing with a large number of migrants by making two military installations available to host unaccompanied foreign minors. She added that another one could be made available if necessary.

Offer came following phone call

The regional president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, announced the offer to the media after a phone call with Robles on Thursday afternoon (September 5). The defense ministry centers that will host the migrant minors are both located on Tenerife: a former army explosives depot and a former barracks.

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5,300 minors hosted in the archipelago

Following a recent standoff with the central government over the lack of space in the Canary Islands' reception facilities -- which currently host 5,300 migrant children and adolescents who arrived by sea -- Clavijo had threatened to stop hosting foreign minors entirely, stating that they should be under the protection of the police and the central government.

Canary Islands president urges redistribution

On the morning of September 5, the regional government warned that the archipelago "can no longer handle all the migratory pressure from Africa" and insisted on the need to distribute migrant minors across all of Spain. That afternoon, Robles called Clavijo and offered the use of the military sites.

The Canary Islands governor warmly thanked her and stated that the "initial reception" of migrant minors will "necessarily be here, due to geographical reasons." However, he stressed the need to later redistribute them across Spain "to foster their integration."

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