Canary island El Hierro declares emergency over migrant arrivals
The Spanish island declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a sharp rise in migrants arriving by boat, and local authorities are asking for government support.
i
Illustrative photo: Michielverbeek / CC BY-SA 4.0
El Hierro, one of Spain's Canary Islands, declared a state of emergency on Saturday because the number of migrants arriving by boat has risen sharply. Local authorities are asking for government support to cope with the influx.
The island council says it cannot cope with the number of arrivals and has asked both the national and regional governments for help. El Hierro is the smallest of the inhabited Canary Islands, with about 11,000 residents, and public services on the island are under pressure.
Alpidio Armas, president of the island council, told Spanish television: "We are very concerned about this sharp rise in arrivals. This is exactly why we have declared the state of emergency: to secure a framework for working together with higher levels of government."
Measures are already in place: sanitary conditions on the island have been improved. Temporary emergency shelter is meant to take pressure off the existing reception centres. The council also warns that migration pressure is expected to keep rising in the coming months.
Most of the people who have reached the island in recent weeks come from Senegal and Gambia, the countries most boats leave from. Autumn is often the busiest period, because conditions on the ocean are then at their most favourable.
Spain's interior minister visited Senegal this week and met his Senegalese counterparts in Dakar. He called on the country to do more to curb migration. According to a statement, he said: "We must find a joint solution to tackle this complex situation and prevent more people from risking their lives on the dangerous crossing."
In the Netherlands, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) counted 2,195 asylum requests in September 2026, well below the 5,130 of October 2023. The monthly count was lowest in March 2025, at 1,445, and has stayed between about 2,000 and 2,300 since January 2026.
Asylum requests in the Netherlands have fallen from 5,130 a month to about 2,200
Asylum requests per month · Oct 2023–Sep 2026
Asylum requests in the Netherlands have fallen from 5,130 a month to about 2,200 (asylum requests per month). From 5,130 in Oct 2023 to 2,195 in Sep 2026; highest 5,130 in Oct 2023, lowest 1,445 in Mar 2025. Source: CBS.
View data
| Item | Asylum requests per month |
|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 5,130 |
| Nov 2023 | 4,255 |
| Dec 2023 | 3,925 |
| Jan 2024 | 3,405 |
| Feb 2024 | 2,835 |
| Mar 2024 | 3,185 |
| Apr 2024 | 3,005 |
| May 2024 | 2,955 |
| Jun 2024 | 2,160 |
| Jul 2024 | 2,765 |
| Aug 2024 | 2,760 |
| Sep 2024 | 3,085 |
| Oct 2024 | 2,890 |
| Nov 2024 | 2,460 |
| Dec 2024 | 2,255 |
| Jan 2025 | 1,785 |
| Feb 2025 | 1,670 |
| Mar 2025 | 1,445 |
| Apr 2025 | 1,670 |
| May 2025 | 1,925 |
| Jun 2025 | 2,115 |
| Jul 2025 | 2,235 |
| Aug 2025 | 2,120 |
| Sep 2025 | 2,865 |
| Oct 2025 | 2,615 |
| Nov 2025 | 2,650 |
| Dec 2025 | 2,745 |
| Jan 2026 | 2,230 |
| Feb 2026 | 2,125 |
| Mar 2026 | 2,115 |
| Apr 2026 | 2,275 |
| May 2026 | 2,305 |
| Jun 2026 | 2,005 |
| Jul 2026 | 2,025 |
| Aug 2026 | 1,965 |
| Sep 2026 | 2,195 |
See more of NLnow in Google: add it as a preferred source