(AFP) In a normal year, it would be high tourist season for the Canary Islands, but a huge influx of migrants has given the archipelago “a bad image,” bar owner Miguel Gonzalez grumbles.
With migrant reception centres completely swamped after the arrival of more than 18,000 people this year — 10 times the number in 2019 — many have been put up in hotels and tourist apartments.
The Puerto Rico resort, where Gonzalez runs his bar, and other holiday hotspots would normally be full of tourists at this time of the year.
The coronavirus pandemic had already hit international travel, leaving spare rooms to house migrants temporarily.
