Canary Islands anti-migrant protests as emergency declared over 7,500 arrivals

A state of migration emergency has been declared across the Canary Islands as furious locals stage protests over a massive surge in small boat arrivals from West Africa. Residents on the tiny island of El Hierro have taken to the streets as local infrastructure buckles under the weight of nearly 7,500 migrants arriving in the first 10 days of November alone - a staggering figure equivalent to more than half of the island’s 12,000-strong population. In response to the escalating crisis, Spain’s Interministerial Commission on Immigration declared an official migration emergency on Tuesday afternoon (November 10). Following an urgent meeting, Madrid agreed to pump more than €16million into the region to fund emergency accommodation, healthcare, and transfers to mainland Spain, according to Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo. However, local leaders have blasted the intervention as "too little, too late", warning the situation on the ground has become "absolutely unsustainable".