The migratory crisis in the Canary Islands reaches such dramatic dimensions that words are no longer enough to describe the helplessness and governmental inaction. The image of a mother holding her newborn baby, rescued in waters near Lanzarote on Epiphany, is the starkest reflection of a humanitarian tragedy that is perpetuated. This baby, born in the middle of the ocean on a desperate journey to Europe, symbolizes something deeper: the failure of migration policies and the systematic abandonment of a region that alone bears the weight of a crisis that should not be its sole responsibility.
Christmas in the Canary Islands ended with a rescue that should not have happened. The baby, like so many other children and adults who risk their lives on the Canary route, should not have been born in a cayuco, surrounded by cold, danger and despair. But here we are, in 2025, adding chilling figures: in just six days, 822 migrants have arrived in Lanzarote. During 2024, the island recorded the arrival of 4,296 people in 84 boats, including 562 unaccompanied minors. And while the statistics rise, the response from the central government remains in silence and indifference.
Pedro Sánchez is ultimately responsible for this crisis. There are no excuses or justifications. His government has allowed the Canary Islands to become the epicenter of a humanitarian tragedy that should concern all of Spain and all of Europe. Meanwhile, the temporary tents of Puerto Naos, designed for specific emergencies, become permanent shelters that demonstrate the lack of planning and commitment. Each piece of data, each rescue, each life lost in the ocean is a slap in the face that demands an immediate response.
But that answer does not arrive. Far from articulating a comprehensive migration policy that protects the southern border of Europe and alleviates the burden on the Canary Islands, the Sánchez government continues to foster division. The massive arrival of migrants is used as a weapon to confront the autonomous communities, polarize society and weaken political parties. While the central Executive remains comfortable in its inaction, the Canary Islands alone face the overflow of their resources, the overcrowding of their reception centers and the anguish of those who see how this tragedy grows out of control.
The image of that mother and her baby is not only a symbol of hope, but also a cry for help. How long will the Canary Islands endure this burden without an adequate response? The central government has the capacity to request European aid, strengthen Frontex operations and guarantee the protection of borders. But, as denounced by the vice president of the Government of the Canary Islands and president of the PP in the islands, it seems that Sánchez is more interested in perpetuating this situation than resolving it.
If the State does not act, if it does not guarantee care for unaccompanied minors, if it does not invest in the countries of origin and transit to mitigate the causes of migration, then every tragedy at sea will be the direct responsibility of the Government of Spain. Pedro Sánchez has the obligation to lead a structural solution. Enough of neglect.
That baby born at sea does not only belong to a desperate migrant mother. That baby also belongs to Pedro Sánchez. His life and his future are in the hands of a government that has decided to look the other way while the Canary Islands sink. It is time to demand answers and put an end to this inadmissible abandonment.
Jacobo Medina, vice president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa and secretary of the PP of Lanzarote