(Reuters) Spain is launching a new migration policy in the Canary Islands, opening camps for undocumented migrants in a sign that it expects a significant influx of new arrivals, while it largely refuses to transfer them to the mainland.
After a huge jump in arrivals from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa last year sparked tensions in the archipelago, authorities have started to move some migrants to tents in two camps on Gran Canaria.
Four more will be opened in mid-February on Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura islands for up to 7,000 migrants.
They mostly comprise outdoor tents in unused military facilities where people can enter and leave freely, and are meant to house migrants pending extradition or having their international protection requests processed, officials said. The tents will be later replaced by permanent facilities.
