Almost 200 immigrants have been stranded since last weekend in Alborán, an islet of only seven hectares located in the middle of the Mediterranean, 54 kilometers from Cape Tres Forcas (Morocco) and 89 kilometers from the port of Adra (Almería), inhabited only by a detachment of the Spanish Navy.
The immigrants arrived in several boats between last Friday and Monday.
Until now, they have not been able to be evacuated to the Peninsula, as has been done in previous cases, due to the poor sea conditions in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The arrival of immigrants, many of them North Africans, has overwhelmed the reception capacity of the islet, where there are no fixed facilities to shelter them, and of the naval detachment itself, usually made up of a dozen soldiers.
Despite this, the situation is calm, according to the sources consulted, after the incident that occurred over the weekend, when the skipper of one of the boats that landed on the island threatened to point a gun at the military. Spaniards and they had to shoot into the air.
Alboran Island. MAP (Europa Press)
“We continue working to be able to transfer the immigrants to land as soon as possible, since the state of the sea has already improved and maritime traffic in the area can recover,” Defense sources have indicated.
“Meanwhile, they are being provided with everything basic and necessary until the transfer,” they added.
Sources from the Civil Guard later ruled out that the evacuation could take place on Thursday and postponed it to early this Friday if weather permitted.
The
Helimer 207
Maritime Rescue helicopter made two flights on Sunday from the port of Almería to the islet to evacuate a man who suffered cardiorespiratory arrest due to hypothermia after being recovered and stabilized by the health service of the military detachment;
as well as a woman and four minors.
The remaining immigrants have remained outdoors since then, although the detachment has provided them with blankets and food.
The military force in Alborán has been reinforced and the high-altitude patrol vessel of the
Sentinel
Navy is in the area in case it is necessary to come to provide support.
Since last summer, boat arrivals have increased to the islet under Spanish sovereignty, although never in such a large number nor having to stay in Alborán for so many days.
On the weekend of February 10 and 11 of this year, 89 immigrants arrived and were evacuated to Almería.
At the end of December last year, 46 arrived and in November, 51;
being transferred on both occasions to the port of Motril (Granada).
In most cases these are not the usual boats, but rather speedboats used for drug smuggling that combine the drug trafficking business with the transfer of immigrants controlled by the mafias.
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