(AP) Spain’s government is scrambling to manage the steady stream of migrants to its Canary Islands from West Africa by opening a second holding camp, officials said Wednesday, as political tensions rise in the Atlantic archipelago.
The establishment of a second temporary migrant processing center on the island of Gran Canaria comes amid increasing criticism from local authorities and human rights groups. Officials on the ground say that they can’t adequately care for the thousands of migrants who have arrived by boat in recent weeks.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said authorities relieved pressure on an overrun makeshift shelter packed with nearly 2,300 migrants on the island’s southwest coast by transferring around 200 of its occupants to a second camp set up on grounds provided by the military.
