A new wave of landings was reported on the Canary Islands over the weekend (February 8-9) after maritime services rescued five boats off the islands of Gran Canaria and El Hierro, with a total of 300 people on board.

Seven people in hospital after first arrivals

A boat carrying 64 migrants of sub-Saharan origin on board, including eight minors and a woman, was intercepted late on Saturday night by Spain's SIVE integrated control system off Gran Canaria. Rescued by the Macondo cutter, it was taken to the port of Arguineguin at dawn on Sunday, February 9.

After landing, the migrants were assisted by the Red Cross and seven people were taken to hospital with symptoms of dehydration, hypothermia and infections due to the constant contact with faecal water at the bottom of the boat, the emergency services said.

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The dynamic of the other four landings

Also on the evening of Saturday, rescue services were alerted that a rubber dinghy that had departed from Dakhla -- in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, administered by Morocco -- for the Canary Islands was adrift some 50 miles south-east of Gran Canaria.

The Spanish maritime service diverted the Bitu Express merchant ship to the same area, to initially rescue the migrants ahead of the arrival of the Urania cutter. Some 59 people were rescued at around midnight, including five women. Most of the migrants were from Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa and were taken to the port of Arguineguín (Gran Canaria), which they reached at 3 am on Sunday. 

A third vessel, a fragile wooden boat with 60 people on board, was aided by rescue services 50 miles off the island of El Hierro. During the rescue operation, the cutter intercepted a fourth boat and then a fifth, full of migrants. The vessels were taken to El Hierro and Tenerife.

In total, in less than 48 hours, over 300 people reached the archipelago, where more than 5,000 migrants have landed since the beginning of the year.

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