A wooden cayuco carrying 107 people reached La Restinga harbour on El Hierro at 16:20 on 25 September, marking the archipelago’s largest single landing this month. Salvamento Marítimo towed the overloaded craft after an army drone spotted it 35 km south-east of the island. The passengers—reportedly from Gambia, Guinea-Conakry and Sierra Leone—were taken to the old port-warehouse reception facility, which has a nominal capacity of 80. Medical teams treated three adults for chronic dehydration and transported one pregnant woman to Hospital Nuestra Señora de los Reyes for observation. Guardia Civil sources told Antena 3 that the skipper abandoned the cayuco in international waters after radioing for help, a tactic increasingly used to avoid arrest on Spanish soil. The arrival, following two rescues near Fuerteventura earlier the same day, brings total Canary landings in September to 896 according to regional government figures. While still below 2023’s record pace, the cluster strains El Hierro’s tiny health and identification teams. The Cabildo has requested an emergency ferry to redistribute arrivals to Tenerife within 48 hours to avoid breaching EU reception-standard limits. For employers with assignees on the island—mostly in the renewable-energy sector—the influx can translate into longer queues at the sole passport booth and police checkpoints on the main pier, potentially delaying equipment shipments. Cruise operators have already rerouted next week’s calls to avoid operational overlap with humanitarian aid convoys.
Source: Antena 3 Noticias
