‘Immigrant Invasion’ on Spain’s Canary Islands

A PROTEST march has taken place in Arguineguín,  in the southwest of Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands. Residents are calling for an end to the ‘Immigrant Invasion’ on their towns.

Since late August, the tourist town of Mogán, in the southwest area of the island of Gran Canaria has become an involuntary centre of immigration from Africa, over 1,300 people are crowded at emergency port facilities meant to hold no more than 600.

“No to illegal immigration!” screamed a man in a cowboy hat,

“This is a real invasion,” added Soledad Caballero, a housewife wrapped in a Spanish flag.

“They’ve sent 296 immigrants to live 50 meters from my house. I’m not saying it’s them, but lately there have been thefts.”

Local authorities estimate that around 1,100 people marched on Saturday, November 7,  in a protest that had been organized by the Arguineguín Neighborhood Association to stop what locals are calling an ‘Immigrant Invasion’.

During the demonstration, some protesters asked for more aid for the migrants, but many others used terms such as “illegal,” “invaders” and “parasites.”

There were also many calls for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) to resign.

“I have nothing against the immigrants, but if there isn’t enough to go around for us, how can there be enough for them?” said Verónica, a sales clerk who is currently out of a job.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Mogán, Onalia Bueno, reminded marchers that racist comments were out of place. “There is no room here for anything that’s not fighting for human rights,” she said over the loudspeaker.

Around 12,000 African migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands this year, the largest  figure since 2006.

Around 10 per cent of these individuals ended up in this town. This past week alone, there were 1,400 new arrivals.

“We are incensed at the lack of action by the Spanish government,” said the mayor of Mogán in statements made back in September, when there was another peak in arrivals from the western coast of Africa, which is located 100 kilometres away from the closest island.

The anger over poor management of migrant arrivals is now compounded by the uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis. “There are elements of concern,” says Daniel Buraschi, a member of the Social Action and Research Network (RAIS)

The difficulty lies in calling these people racist. “The only thing we’d achieve is to increase their resentment because they don’t see themselves that way and they feel that we are not acknowledging their indignation. And this resentment can act as a catalyst.”

Spain’s far-right party Vox has been trying to capitalise on this upset. Its deputy for Las Palmas, Alberto Rodríguez Almeida, was one of the very few politicians who took part in the march.

“The lack of action by this government has allowed this trend to get out of hand,” he said during the protest.

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