Spain to set up camps for 7,000 migrants in overwhelmed Canary Islands

Migrants rest after being rescued by coast guards or reached the island by their own means, in the Arguineguin harbour, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

LAS PALMAS, Spain (Reuters) - The Spanish government promised on Friday to set up camps and shelters for 7,000 people in the Canary Islands, to manage a surge in migrant arrivals that has overwhelmed local authorities and left thousands sleeping in the open.

Judicial authorities visited the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria island after a local mayor denounced the "subhuman conditions" of more than 1,000 migrants still stranded on the dockside there, to assess the situation and determine whether the crisis has been mishandled.