Emergency crews in Spain rescued 854 migrants from seven open, motorized fishing vessels off the Canary Island of El Hierro starting in the early hours of Friday. The boats were brought into the harbour of La Restinga, located in the municipality of El Pinar, where emergency medical teams evaluated those on board.
To ease pressure on reception facilities on El Hierro, Spanish authorities arranged for 350 of the newly arrived migrants to be transferred to Tenerife aboard a scheduled morning ferry service. Officials made plans to move an additional 350 migrants on a second ferry crossing on Friday afternoon.
While most received routine medical evaluation at the port, several individuals required hospital care. Nine people remain admitted to Nuestra Señora de los Reyes Hospital after reaching El Hierro on various vessels in recent days, suffering from a range of health issues.
The multi-vessel operation involved three ships from Spain's Maritime Rescue Service (Salvamento Marítimo): the Salvamar Navia, the Diphda, and the Mizar. Operations began around 1:00 am when the Salvamar Navia intercepted the first vessel four miles off the coast of La Restinga and escorted its 134 passengers to the quay.
Six additional vessels arrived at staggered intervals throughout Friday morning. A second cayuco carrying 174 people docked at 4:45 am, followed just 15 minutes later by a third vessel with 166 migrants. The largest boat of the day disembarked 235 passengers at 8:30 am. A fifth vessel carrying 54 migrants arrived around 9:00 am, a sixth carrying 39 people docked at approximately 10:15 am, and a final boat carrying 52 individuals reached La Restinga at 12:30 pm.
Health and emergency services reported that all passengers on the seven vessels were of sub-Saharan African origin. The majority were men, though women and minors were also among those rescued. Authorities have not yet established their exact countries of origin or their specific departure points.
A coordinated multi-agency response greeted the arrivals at La Restinga harbour, including personnel from the Red Cross Immediate Emergency Response Team (ERIE), the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC), port security, the Civil Guard, and the National Police.
Following initial humanitarian care, the migrants were moved to the Temporary Foreign Nationals Reception Centre (CATE) in San Andrés, within the municipality of Valverde. There, the migrants are receiving assistance from the non-governmental organization Corazón Naranja-Ebrima Sonko while remaining in police custody ahead of scheduled transfers to facilities outside El Hierro.
The heavy maritime traffic off El Hierro came amidst reports of migrant boat arrivals across other parts of the Canary Islands archipelago. On Thursday night at approximately 10:00 pm, Salvamento Marítimo brought an unconfirmed number of rescued migrants ashore at Arguineguín on the southern coast of Gran Canaria. Additionally, two separate vessels reached Lanzarote between Thursday at 9:00 pm and Friday at 8:30 am, carrying a first group of 27 North African men followed by a second group of 61 people.
