Clavijo explains to the King the need to coordinate migration management under a single command

During the audience he held with the King at the Zarzuela Palace within the framework of the round with the regional presidents elected in the May 28 elections, Clavijo conveyed to the head of State the need for Europe and the Government of Spain to take the immigration issue "with the same seriousness and gravity with which other matters of the European Union are taken", because the confluence of factors such as political instability, armed conflicts and the earthquake in Morocco, together with the calm weather, suggest a "notable increase" of influx on the Atlantic route.

The Canarian president considers that it is "common sense" that there is in the Government of Spain a single person that coordinates the six ministries with powers in immigration matters, instead of functioning as six watertight departments. "We haven't even been able to talk to three of the six ministries affected yet," he said, "and meanwhile boats continue to arrive and people die," he added.

Before the media, the head of the Canary Islands Executive insisted on the need for the state government to "put a single person to coordinate." as was done in 2006 during the so-called cayucos crisis, with the then vice president María Teresa Fernández de la Vega. "We are not asking for something that has not been done before, it has already been done and it was a notable success," said Clavijo.

He also considers it essential that games are expeditedthe General State Budgets that have not yet been transferred to the Canary Islands, among which there are resources for care for minors unaccompanied migrants under the guardianship of the autonomous community.

The Canarian president demanded that the agreement adopted in July 2022 at a sectoral conference for the solidarity transfer of minors arriving on the islands among the rest of the autonomous communities, which until now has only been partially fulfilled.

The agreement established the transfer to the peninsula of 340 minors in 2022 and another 342 throughout 2023, although so far only half have been transferred, and with the new arrivals, the Canary Islands currently have under its guardianship 2,700 minors. "In the end, the reality is that beyond what was signed, the Canary Islands are still alone," said Clavijo.

water emergency

During his meeting with the monarch, the Canarian president also addressed other issues such as the water emergency derived from climate change and the water problems that are being experienced in the Canary Islands. «Some islands are more affected than others, like Lanzarote, where the situation is alarming», he explained, highlighting the need for sufficient state investment to provide the islands with infrastructure that guarantees the supply of water for the population.

The serious Forest fire that devastated more than 15,000 hectares in Tenerife and the zero energy that La Gomera suffered at the end of July were also among the issues that the president of the Canary Islands addressed in his meeting with Felipe VI.