(AFP) After three years, Said El Hallaji finally got to hug his brother Lehcen as they were reunited at Arguineguin, a once-quiet Canary Islands port now overwhelmed with migrant arrivals.
More than 18,000 people have landed on this Spanish archipelago over the past year, some two-thirds in the past few months, after taking a perilous boat trip from the African coast.
Many come from Morocco, like Lehcen who was hoping to be reunited with his brother, a seasonal agricultural worker based in Murcia in southeastern Spain who flew in to meet him.
“We haven’t seen each other for three years,” says Said El Hallaji wearing a mask with a Spanish flag, who’s confident he will be able [to] take his brother back with him to mainland Spain.
