The problem of uncontrolled immigration is not new in Lanzarote or the Canary Islands, and therefore, I will not delve into its chronology (you can consult the assessment that my colleague and general secretary Migdalia Machín recently made quite accurately), but it is undeniable that the State must immediately address what is its direct responsibility and competence if it really wants to avoid a situation that is already completely unsustainable because the problem of immigration will not be new, but the socio-economic circumstances derived from the Covid-19 crisis are, and therefore, we are facing a social powder keg with unpredictable consequences due to the alarm that is being created throughout the Canary Islands due to the terrible management of the problem by the central government without being able to foresee, with the good weather at sea at this time, how many people will continue to arrive on our coasts in the coming weeks.
I am not going to dwell on what share of co-responsibility the different governments of the Canary Islands will have had for not demanding and ensuring that the State had provided measures and provided the Canary Islands with the necessary resources as a gateway to Europe to deal with this problem immediately, because that will always be debatable and also does not solve the urgency, once the Foreigners Detention Centers (CIE) that did exist were dismantled. What is not debatable is that both the obligation to attend to the initial reception of these people and to implement measures to avoid the problem in the medium and long term is undoubtedly the responsibility of the State and, therefore, of the successive governments, presided over by either the PP or PSOE, who have always given the Canary Islands a neocolonialist treatment that seems to prefer to consolidate us as a kind of immigrant reserve that distances the problem from the mainland. Therefore, we must say once and for all, "enough is enough!", as Fernando Clavijo and Ana Oramas are doing in the Senate and the Congress of Deputies, respectively. By the way, the only ones who have raised their voices in this regard.
Of course, those who manage to reach our coasts leaving their country and family in search of a better life have not committed any sin other than that and we must give them the most dignified treatment possible, without fueling the dangerous breeding ground of xenophobia and racism that social networks are so prone to, but in parallel we must avoid at all costs this irregular immigration without any control.
The Government of the Canary Islands must break free from the submission in which it is installed, make a stand and demand without mincing words that the central government put this State problem at the top of the Spanish and European political agenda once and for all, or we will continue patching solutions cyclically without solving it. Of course, in the medium and long term this involves taking many measures, such as development cooperation, of course, but also demanding that Morocco control its coasts, where we all know they can do much more, and of course, controlling our own borders with a correct functioning of the infamous External Surveillance System (SIVE), among other measures.
With regard to Lanzarote –and beyond the need for the State to practice some of the interterritorial solidarity it presumes, assuming and speeding up the transfer of immigrants, both adults and unaccompanied minors, to other communities in the national territory, something that is now denied to us by looking the other way– the hot spot of the problem is, at this time, how and where to continue attending to the unpredictable avalanche that is arriving and presumably will continue to do so in the coming weeks to our coasts.
As has been said before by so many people, I would swear that in each and every one of the immigration upturns we have had, the State, at least in Lanzarote, owns and therefore has full and free disposal, even as a provisional CIE, a resource that could easily be enabled for that first reception such as the Arrecife Infantry Battalion with the capacity to house more than 600 people and with barely a few dozen soldiers at present. As a barracks, it undoubtedly meets infinitely better conditions for the surveillance and control of large groups of people than a warehouse at the foot of the road on the outskirts of Argana or facilities in tourist areas.
The pretext used, I don't know if by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, but certainly by the submissive local PSOE, that the facilities are not compatible with that use due to the presence of weapons, is not believed even by them. First, because the barracks is immense and it is very easy to compartmentalize its uses and accesses, and second, because the scarce weaponry that may remain there will surely be safe. We are not saying that the "provisional CIE" should be attended by the army, which could also lend a hand, but that the ministry should do it with the human resources that it is supposed to have in a hotel, a warehouse, or a CIE.
It is true that Pedro Sánchez already demonstrated his lack of sensitivity during his visit to the island in 2018 when, being I president of the Cabildo, I had to declare a humanitarian emergency for similar reasons and he was not able to grant us ten minutes to the then president of the Government of the Canary Islands and to me to address such a serious matter. The same sensitivity that the minister of the branch has shown this week by canceling a meeting with the current regional president, as he himself has denounced, although the minister denies having confirmed any visit in the height of absurdity. Expressing "discomfort" in a press release, no matter how "deep" it may be, is not enough, Mr. President.
Enough of contempt from some and submission from others. The Canary Islands do not deserve this treatment and need solutions urgently.
*Pedro M. San Ginés Gutiérrez is the spokesperson for Coalición Canaria-PNC in the Cabildo of Lanzarote
