One of the migrants who arrived last week in Alborán, a Spanish island of just seven hectares in the middle of the Mediterranean, died this Saturday at the University Hospital of Torrecárdenas (Almería), after being evacuated last Sunday from the island between North Africa and Almería.
Hospital sources told Europa Press that he died on Friday but gave no further details. The migrant was taken to hospital by a helicopter provided by the maritime rescue teams. About 200 migrants landed on the island of Alborán aboard several boats in the area surrounding the enclave, of which about 150 were transferred to Almería and Motril (Granada).
According to the government sub-delegation, 50 of the remaining migrants have not yet been evacuated from the island due to the storm. The arrival of immigrants, many of them North Africans, has overwhelmed the reception capacity of a place that has no permanent housing for them and of the naval command itself, which normally consists of a dozen soldiers.
The rescued people were taken to the Temporary Care Centers for Foreigners (CATE) in Almería and Motril after the transfer began last Thursday. The Civil Guard and the Sea Rescue carried out the operation, which had to be carried out in a “staggered” manner due to the bad weather of a “storm”, so they could only reach the island with inflatable boats. In total, a hundred of the migrants were evacuated to the CATE in Almería, while another 50 were transferred to the CATE in Motril.
Since last summer, the arrival of boats in Alborán has increased – many of them are speedboats used for drug trafficking – but never before have they been in such large numbers, nor have they had to stay on the island for so many days . The Department of Defense is exploring installing prefabricated shelters to address these emergencies. Alborán, under Spanish sovereignty, is located 54 kilometers from Cape Tres Forcas (Morocco) and 89 kilometers from the port of Adra (Almería).
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