The number of immigrants who have arrived in the archipelago in irregular boats has decreased. While in 2007 there were 11,746 people arriving in pateras and cayucos, in 2008 the figure is counted, until the beginning of December, at 8,205, according to data provided by the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands for ACN Press.
The island that has suffered the greatest increase, according to the comparative data, has been La Gomera, since in 2007 it received 244 immigrants and in 2008, 999. However, Fuerteventura, the most frequented destination since the beginning of the phenomenon more than a decade ago, has gone from 694 people in the past year to only four in the one that is now ending. The same thing happened in La Palma, whose decrease has been complete: from 131 the previous year to not a single one in the current year.
In Tenerife and Gran Canaria the decrease has also been notable. While in the first of the aforementioned islands 4,395 immigrants arrived this year (5,813 in 2007), in the second there were 1,978 (2,965 in the past year).
Meanwhile, the arrival of immigrant minors to the Archipelago has increased slightly, only 12 more than the previous year until the month of November: 825 in 2007 and 837 in 2008. Of these, only 246 arrived in the month of September.
However, the number of deaths has increased. In 2007, 39 people died on the journey from the African coasts to the Canary Islands, compared to 45 in 2008. The month of September was when the most deaths were recorded (14), coinciding with the largest number of boats, a total of 38. Of these, 13 to Lanzarote, as many to Gran Canaria, eight to Tenerife, two to La Gomera, one to El Hierro and another to Fuerteventura.
However, this year the number of boats arriving to the Islands is also lower than in 2007. Last year 266 arrived in total, while in 2008, and until today, the data places them at 159.
ACN Press
