The Government of the Canary Islands has submitted a proposal to the European Commission in which it requests a significant material and human reinforcement of the deployment of the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex) in the archipelago. In response to the consultation opened by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs to update the regulations of this body, the team of President Fernando Clavijo proposes that Frontex increase its presence on the islands "with aerial means, vessels, radars and other systems that improve maritime and border surveillance".
The objective is for the European Border and Coast Guard to enhance "in a stable and proportional manner" its presence in "strategic points such as the Canary Islands", providing itself with "resources adapted to the maritime environment and the insular geographical reality". To achieve this, the Canarian Government considers it "crucial" that the new regulation being prepared by Brussels includes the possibility of including in the Frontex operation a "significant reinforcement of resources" in accordance with the magnitude of the migratory challenge facing the islands.
Work in the CATE and interviews with new arrivals
Currently, the Frontex teams present in the Canary Islands limit their work to working in the different Temporary Foreigner Attention Centers (CATE) providing their support to the National Police in the identification and interview tasks of the migrants who have recently arrived to the islands.
The Government of the Canary Islands has been demanding throughout the legislature that Frontex "go much further" and cooperate with the State in surveillance and rescue work, not only on the Canarian coasts, but also on those of the migrants' countries of origin. However, this demand has repeatedly clashed with the refusal of the Ministry of the Interior to request the collaboration of the European agency, an essential request according to the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, to President Fernando Clavijo at the meeting they held on January 21 in Strasbourg.
For this reason, taking advantage of "the window of opportunity" that the consultation opened by Brussels represents, the autonomous Executive has directly requested that the new Frontex regulation contemplate "a much broader deployment to control the dangerous Atlantic Route and save lives".
In this line, another of the demands raised by the Canary Islands is that the EU's operational arm in migratory matters "can participate in the humanitarian management of the migratory drama and in maritime rescue tasks". Specifically, it is requested that the new Frontex regulation incorporate "specific coordination protocols with national rescue services (such as Maritime Rescue in Spain), respecting state competences, but favoring real operational cooperation".
"The Canary Islands is a recurring point for search and rescue (SAR) operations. The future regulation must ensure that Frontex not only acts in border control, but also in coordinated humanitarian support in accordance with International Law of the Sea and fundamental rights", indicated the proposal of the autonomous Executive.
More participation of the regions
The response of the Government of the Canary Islands to the consultation opened by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission has also requested that the regions "have more weight" in decisions on the operational deployment of Frontex. "The autonomous authorities have direct competence in basic services (health, social services, etc.) and must be part of the operational planning of Frontex to ensure inter-institutional coordination", the document underlines.
In its proposal, the Executive presided over by Fernando Clavijo defends that giving voice to the territories that face migratory pressure on the front line will strengthen "the efficiency of the European border management system and returns from a specific territorial perspective, respectful of human rights, adapted to current challenges and with more inclusive governance".
Likewise, the Canary Islands asks Brussels to include in the new Frontex regulation "a differentiated approach for the outermost regions such as the Canary Islands, which face particular challenges in terms of migratory pressure, logistical capacity and territorial vulnerability".
The autonomous Government defends that the capacity for immediate and coordinated response with Frontex is "crucial" to face the constant arrival of cayucos and pateras to the archipelago, especially after the strong increase experienced by the Atlantic Route with more than 87,000 migrants arriving to the Canary Islands by sea in 2023 and 2024.
More than 5,000 minors in 82 devices
In particular, the document submitted to the European Commission underlines the "alarming" situation of unaccompanied migrant minors in the Canary Islands, with more than 5,000 children housed alone in 82 devices.
It also recalls that the report "Annual Risk Analysis 2025-2026" recently published by Frontex warns that migratory pressure on the Canary Islands will remain high during 2025, due to factors such as the political and security deterioration in the Sahel, the humanitarian crisis in the region, Russian influence and the potential instrumental use of migration, as well as cuts in humanitarian aid.
To address this migratory pressure, the regional Executive proposes to Brussels to take advantage of the change in the Frontex regulation to "promote a more agile and efficient approach in collaboration with third countries". "The European Union must strengthen its dialogue with the countries of origin and transit in West Africa from which the pateras and cayucos depart to guarantee the presence of Frontex in their jurisdictional waters. This implies promoting bilateral agreements with these countries, supporting them in maritime surveillance tasks", indicates the Canarian proposal.
Finally, the response of the Canary Islands to the consultation opened by the EU calls for the inclusion in the training program of Frontex personnel of specific content on fundamental rights, which includes access to international protection and care for people in situations of vulnerability, such as minors, unaccompanied minors, people with disabilities, elderly people and potential female victims of gender violence.
Frontex:
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency has been operating since May 1, 2005. It operates under current regulations since 2019, a legal framework under which it supports EU Member States in the protection of the EU's external borders and in return operations from Member States to third countries.
Frontex is a decentralized EU agency and is part of the European Border and Coast Guard, which also includes the national authorities of the EU countries responsible for border management, including coast guards, and the national authorities responsible for returns.
In July 2024, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, pledged to strengthen Frontex by tripling the standing corps to 30,000 personnel and equipping it with state-of-the-art technology for surveillance and situational awareness, as well as its own equipment and personnel to ensure that it can protect our borders in any circumstance with strong governance and fully respecting fundamental rights.
In 2023, the Commission carried out the evaluation of the current legislation and found that, although the 2019 regulation was generally adequate for its purpose, the legal framework under which Frontex operates presented "some deficiencies". To correct them, Brussels has set two priority objectives that fit with the proposals submitted by the Government of the Canary Islands. The first of these is to "prepare and equip Frontex for its enhanced role as the Union's operational arm in border management, ensuring a high level of security at the Union's external borders in response to new operational challenges". The second is to achieve "the effective implementation of integrated border management throughout the EU", according to the consultation opened by Brussels.
