A total of 150 of the 192 immigrants who were stranded since last weekend in Alborán, a Spanish islet of only seven hectares located in the middle of the Mediterranean, have been evacuated this Thursday to the Peninsula in three ships.
The first to set sail was the
Salvamar Gienha,
with 40 immigrants, whom it took to the port of Motril (Granada).
Due to the bad sea conditions, the Maritime Rescue ship has not been able to dock at the islet's pier, so an auxiliary boat has transferred the Africans on board.
Around eight in the afternoon, two other boats left: the
Spica
, from Sasemar, with 51 immigrants;
and the
Río Miño,
from the Civil Guard, with 50. Both have headed to the port of Almería.
The evacuation has been especially complex due to the strong waves prevailing in the entire area of the Strait of Gibraltar throughout this week, which has caused the operation to be delayed day after day waiting for an improvement in the weather. time.
In the end it was necessary to mobilize three ships to carry out the transfers and on Friday night there were still 50 immigrants on the islet.
The arrival of immigrants, many of them North Africans, has overwhelmed the reception capacity of a place where there are no fixed facilities to shelter them, and of the naval detachment itself, usually made up of a dozen soldiers.
For a week, Africans have slept outdoors on a bare islet battered by strong winds.
Despite this, the situation has been 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 passengers. Spanish military and they had to shoot into the air.
Since last summer, the arrival of boats to Alborán - many of them fast boats used for drug trafficking - has increased, but they have never done so in such a high number nor have they had to stay so many days on the islet.
The Ministry of Defense is studying installing prefabricated accommodation to deal with these emergencies.
Alborán, under Spanish sovereignty, is located 54 kilometers from Cape Tres Forcas (Morocco) and 89 from the port of Adra (Almería).
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