The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, warned this Friday afternoon that the reality facing the island of El Hierro is “dramatic” in the face of the new upsurge in the arrival of migrants that the territory is having to endure. He has said that throughout the day he expects to hold a telephone conversation with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in order to jointly analyze the migration crisis.
Clavijo made these statements to the media during his second day of work in Guadalupe, within the framework of the XXX Conference of Presidents of the RUP. From there, he stressed that the situation on the island has worsened “to a very great extent”: “It’s sad. It hurts me to have to say that it won’t be because we didn’t warn about it.”
The head of the Canary Islands’ executive emphasized that “It won’t be because we didn’t warn; it won’t be because we didn’t ask for the meetings, and the allocations. The situation right now on the island of El Hierro is dramatic, with an overflowing CATE, and the La Restinga pier absolutely overflowing with migrants and without any capacity to respond,” he said.
Given this scenario, and with the intention of addressing it in a coordinated manner with the central Government, Clavijo and Sánchez are expected to hold a telephone call during the afternoon. “I hope that after the conversation I can have this afternoon with the President, the emergency on the island will be declared,” the regional leader said.
The President of the Canary Islands has again placed emphasis on the urgency of transferring a large part of the migrant people who have recently arrived in El Hierro in order to reduce the level of care pressure that the island is experiencing. “Let’s hope that action is taken,” Clavijo warned, calling for immediate measures.
Likewise, he expressed his wish that the telephone contact with Pedro Sánchez will represent a “turning point” in the management of this crisis, noting that “many months” are still ahead: “The situation is not only already dramatic, but it is likely that in the coming months it could become even harsher,” he concluded.