Authorities on El Hierro, one of Spain's Canary Islands, have declared an emergency after a sharp rise in migrants and refugees arriving by boat, and have asked the government in Madrid for urgent help. More than 3,300 people have reached the island in about 30 boats since the start of November, according to local authorities.

El Hierro has about 11,400 residents, and officials say the arrivals have put severe pressure on accommodation, transport and healthcare. Alpidio Armas, head of the island's governing council, told Spanish television on Saturday that the emergency declaration was meant to set up a framework of cooperation with higher levels of government. He said officials were looking for temporary accommodation for the new arrivals and that conditions at the island's hospital had become, in his words, undesirable.

Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, described the situation as absolutely unsustainable. Maritime rescue services rescued 3,261 people off the Canary Islands in the first six days of November. Across the archipelago, the regional government counted 49 boats carrying about 4,587 people between 1 and 6 November, with 35 of those boats landing on El Hierro.

The surge comes after a quieter year overall. Spain's Interior Ministry recorded 13,327 irregular sea arrivals in the Canary Islands between January and October 2026, 5.5 percent fewer than in the same period last year. Arrivals reached a record of more than 46,000 in 2024, and officials say the recent pace is approaching that level. The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the world's deadliest migration crossings: two people were found dead on a boat heading for the islands this week, and five more are believed to have died during the voyage, according to survivor accounts reported by AFP.

Clavijo has written to Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, asking for urgent intervention, including a review of solidarity and funding under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and closer cooperation with Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia. The Canary government has also asked Madrid for more National Police and Civil Guard officers and equipment on El Hierro. Source: Al Jazeera