More than a thousand migrants arrived in the Spanish Canary Islands on Saturday alone after making the dangerous journey from Africa, including 320 people on a boat that rescuers said was the most overcrowded they had ever seen. The Red Cross, which assisted in treating the migrants, stated that those who arrived on the wooden boat at the island of El Hierro represented a new record for arrivals by a single boat. The previous record was for a boat carrying 271 people that reached El Hierro on October 3rd.
The Red Cross added that among the arrivals on Saturday were 783 who reached El Hierro, 98 to Tenerife, and 150 to Gran Canaria. Among the passengers were women and children. In Gran Canaria, the coast guard towed a wooden boat carrying migrants, including a child, to the port of Arguineguín. There were other wooden boats docked in the port from previous migration attempts.
The seven islands of the archipelago in the Atlantic have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Spain, and this year has seen an increase in crossing attempts from Senegal and other African countries.
