Almost 300 Canary Islands migrants sent to Málaga province. Torrox mayor criticises lack of notice
Red Cross and CEAR are caring for about 292 people moved from the Canaries to Málaga, Torrox and Antequera. Torrox's mayor says the town hall was again not told, according to Diario Sur.
By Costa del Sol Journal Newsroom · · AI-assisted
Almost 300 migrants who reached the Canary Islands by cayuco (small boat) are being housed in Málaga province, according to data compiled by Diario Sur and its English edition. The people have been taken in recent days to reception centres run by humanitarian organisations in Málaga city, Torrox and Antequera, as arrivals on El Hierro surge.
Key facts
- Around 292 people: the Red Cross is caring for 275 and CEAR for 17, according to the organisations' provincial coordinators quoted by Diario Sur.
- More to come: CEAR expects 15 more in the coming days, which could take the total above 300.
- Where: Málaga city, Torrox (El Morche) and Antequera.
- Who: mainly young men from Senegal, plus some women and minors, according to the Red Cross.
- Emergency in the Canaries: the Cabildo (island council) of El Hierro declared a social emergency on 6 November.
Who is taking them in
The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration is sending some of the new arrivals to different parts of the mainland to relieve pressure on support services in the Canaries, Diario Sur reported.
Red Cross provincial coordinator Samuel Linares told the paper on Thursday that the organisation has received about 275 people. It runs two centres in Málaga city and one in Torrox, at the Urban Beach hotel in El Morche, where it has operated an emergency facility since October 2023. Around 200 of the 275 are in Torrox and the rest in the capital.
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) is receiving far fewer. Its provincial coordinator, Francisco Cansino, put the number at 17, with 15 more expected. CEAR has 835 places in Málaga city and Antequera.
Pressure on El Hierro
According to the Cabildo de El Hierro, more than 8,000 people landed on the island between the start of October and 6 November. The island has a little over 12,000 inhabitants. The Canary Islands government counted 7,432 arrivals across the archipelago in the first ten days of November.
The strain on health, police and support services led the Cabildo to declare the social emergency and ask the state for more resources and better coordination to move new arrivals elsewhere. The central government has declared a migration emergency in the Canaries. It has announced an extra €15.18 million to strengthen reception centres and facilitate transfers between the islands and the mainland, plus special funds for healthcare and Red Cross first-response services.
El Morche and the Torrox town hall
The El Morche hotel has been a main point of reception in the Axarquía since the central government opened it in October 2023 for about 240 sub-Saharan migrants who had been flown from the Canaries to Madrid and then bussed in. Diario Sur reported in October 2025 that some 1,600 people had passed through in its first two years.
The Red Cross offers Spanish classes, guidance on public services and job training there. In the October 2025 report, Linares said more than 160 of the 362 residents at that time had found work, mainly with local fruit and vegetable firms, and that the centre had run "without any incidents".
Torrox mayor Óscar Medina (PP) again criticised the ministry for not informing the ayuntamiento (town hall) in advance. "Once again, they haven't told me anything," he told Diario Sur on Thursday, according to SUR in English's translation of his words.
He also linked the situation to the central government's migration policy. According to the same translation, Medina said: "When Feijóo becomes prime minister, this situation will change." He added that the law would be enforced and that Frontex, the EU border agency, would be activated.
The complaints are not new. In June, Medina asked the government to clarify the future of the El Morche centre and to find a solution for migrants sleeping in public spaces in the municipality, including reed beds, beaches and areas under infrastructure.
What happens next
Diario Sur says the continuation of the El Morche facility, possible further referrals and coordination with Torrox town hall remain open issues in managing reception in the Axarquía. For residents, the numbers are likely to change as the CEAR transfers arrive and as the Canaries emergency develops.
