El Hierro has declared a social emergency due to migratory pressure and, in parallel, the president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has accused the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Canary Islands Executive of wanting to "quickly distribute" migrants arriving on the island throughout Spain.
The far-right leader wrote this Saturday on X that the island is experiencing "another invasion" and assured that 8,000 people have arrived in a territory of 12,000 inhabitants. The statement is part of his political attack, but it does not alter the central fact: the Hierro Cabildo activated an extraordinary institutional response this Friday to a crisis that continues to accumulate arrivals.
Alpidio Armas, president of the Cabildo of El Hierro, formalized the social emergency and the need for collaboration with higher institutions by decree. According to the island institution, the situation has worsened in recent days and is putting pressure on human and care resources included in the care protocol.
In the last five days alone, the Cabildo counted more than 3,000 people aboard about thirty cayucos. The figure raises the total number of arrivals registered in the last five weeks to more than 8,000, a volume that, according to the island corporation, exceeds the island's capacity to respond on its own.
Armas defended that the decision seeks to provide a response coordinated with the rest of the institutions, because, in his words, "El Hierro cannot face this alone." He also warned that the objective is to prevent the care protocol from "being overwhelmed or broken."
The formal request includes more resources and relief for assistance teams
The decree requests the Government of the Canary Islands and the State to incorporate more human resources and a rotation that allows the teams working on the front line to rest. The demand extends to Maritime Rescue, the Canary Islands Health Service, the State Security Forces and Corps, the Red Cross and other NGOs involved in assisting migrants.
While Abascal insists on his accusation against the Government, the island institution keeps its focus on the operational management of the emergency. For now, the next step involves the response of the administrations to the request for reinforcement made by El Hierro.
