海角大神

No tourists, but many migrants: Canary Islands face a new reality

It鈥檚 the low season, but the Tenerife Ving聽hotel would still normally be packed with German and Scandinavian tourists escaping gray autumn skies.

Instead, the heads poking out from the hotel鈥檚 goldfinch yellow balconies are young men from Senegal and Gambia, who have recently arrived in this tourist town on the island of Tenerife after treacherous journeys on wooden fishing boats called cayucos. They鈥檙e in quarantine to protect the community from COVID-19.

鈥淭hey won鈥檛 let us out,鈥� a young Senegalese man calls out in French over his balcony. He鈥檚 been inside for more than a week and will stay for at least one more before being placed elsewhere or left to his own devices. 鈥淚鈥檓 not really sure what鈥檚 going on or what鈥檚 going to happen next.鈥澛�

The more than 100 men staying at the聽Tenerife Ving are just some of hundreds of migrants being housed across the Canary Islands in hotels left vacant by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January, more than 17,000 people have arrived in the Canary Islands, mainly from Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco, in the largest wave of migration the archipelago has seen since 2006, when over 30,000 people sought refuge here. Nearly 10,000 people have arrived in the last month alone.

The pandemic has forced the regional government to look for ways of accommodating the surge of people, in hopes of protecting migrants as well as the local population from COVID-19. With just 20% of hotels in the Canary Islands currently open, at just 6% occupancy, the government has turned to the badly hit tourism sector to step in and help with the crisis.

And with locals already facing hunger and an unemployment rate of 25%, the newly arrived migrants鈥� treatment has stirred some resentment 鈥� in addition to stereotypical fears of terrorism and worries about COVID-19 contagion. The government is banking on a boom in volunteerism 鈥� largely due to the high unemployment rate 鈥� to combat mistrust and bridge understanding between communities.

鈥淭he current context has amplified xenophobic and racist attitudes, and the propagation of hate speech,鈥� says Vicente Manuel Zapata, a professor of human geography at the Universidad de La Laguna in Tenerife. 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 say this is a general phenomenon. The Canarian population still has a relatively positive attitude about immigration. ... It has always been a part of our national fabric.鈥�

鈥淓verything is being improvised鈥�

At the locked door of the Tenerife Ving 鈥� one of the few hotels housing migrants that hasn鈥檛 boarded up its windows 鈥� security guards stand watch. Passersby who try to talk to the men peeking out of their windows are quickly shooed away.聽

It鈥檚 all in line with the current government directive, which is to keep the number and names of participating establishments private. It鈥檚 not out of secrecy, say volunteers, but as a way to protect the migrants.

鈥淭hese men have crossed an ocean. They鈥檙e in a new place with a new language and everything is different,鈥� says Rosa Mar铆a, a Red Cross volunteer. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e still in shock.鈥�

Ms. Mar铆a聽has been volunteering at two hotels in Puerto de la Cruz after being put on furlough from her job at a boat tour company during Tenerife鈥檚 first COVID-19 wave. She now spends eight hours a day, five days a week serving food, leading improvised exercise classes, and chatting with the young men. She says volunteering has shown her how fortunate she is.

Aid workers aren鈥檛 the only ones creating relationships with migrants; it鈥檚 also extending to hotel staff. In the south of the island, near Los Cristianos 鈥� at the heart of the 2006 crisis 鈥� the Granada Park聽hotel was housing around 300 migrants at the start of November with more arrivals expected in the coming weeks.聽

The hotel has finally reopened, having being shuttered since March 21 due to the pandemic, and hotel owners say the situation is a win-win. Granada Park is able to pay employees their full salary 鈥� alleviating pressure on the government 鈥� while providing humanitarian aid. Red Cross volunteers provide food and translators, with hotel staff maintaining their regular jobs of cleaning rooms and serving meals 鈥� to a new clientele.

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 had any of our staff members complain about the situation and we鈥檙e very proud of that,鈥� says Javier Cabrera Amador, a consultant for Granada Park. 鈥淥n the contrary, they鈥檙e creating friendships with these young men since they鈥檙e seeing each other on such a regular basis.鈥�

But operations still vary enormously across the islands. Some staff members are on-site, while other hotels have left the entire operation to aid organizations like the Red Cross. Certain hotels are hosting migrants for two-week quarantine periods, where no one is allowed to come or go. Others are acting as makeshift social housing centers, giving migrants a nightly curfew but allowing them to stay for a handful of months as they apply for asylum or refugee status, or set their sights on France, Germany, or the Spanish mainland.

鈥淣o one can give you any precise information on how long these migrants will stay in the hotels,鈥� says Jos茅 Mar铆a Santana Su谩rez, who leads advocacy and social participation efforts at the聽Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid in Gran Canaria, 鈥渂ecause everything is being improvised.鈥澛�

Disquiet in the Canaries

For some locals, putting up migrants in luxury hotels is too much to bear when they鈥檙e stuck lining up at food banks to put dinner on the table or applying for unemployment benefits. While the government has stamped out rumors that migrants living in the country illegally receive a daily living stipend, it has brought out an intolerant thread on an island chain known in recent years for its integration efforts.

At the end of October, more than 1,000 people protested in the port city of Arguinegu铆n in Gran Canaria 鈥撀爓here around 1,700 migrants are currently stranded, waiting for PCR tests and left in unhygienic conditions 鈥� against what the demonstrators see as a migrant 鈥渋nvasion.鈥� In Puerto de la Cruz, migrants are gradually finishing their quarantine period and moving about town. Curiosity, as well as xenophobia, is mounting.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 not racist, but we鈥檙e a small island so we need more laws to monitor who is coming in,鈥� says Martin Barreto, the owner of Puerto Bakery and Coffee. 鈥淭here will be more COVID-19 cases and more terrorists coming in, just like in France, if things aren鈥檛 controlled.鈥澛�

Aid workers, however, are holding out hope that volunteerism will help counter some of the fear that the current migration wave is bringing. Groups like M茅dicos del Mundo Canarias and the Red Cross note a steady stream of volunteers in recent months, but say they still need more hands.

鈥淰olunteering fulfills me enormously,鈥� says Ms. Mar铆a. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what [these men鈥檚] religion is or the color of their skin. They鈥檙e human beings and they deserve the same respect as everyone else.鈥�