THE GATE

Ten years ago, El Hierro staked everything on sustainability and renewable energy. Today the small Canary Island faces another epochal challenge: migration from Africa, a phenomenon that is turning it into the Lampedusa of the Atlantic

EUROPE | SPAIN | SOCIAL ISSUES

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), at the island's only hospital, the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Valverde, migrant and goat herder Ahmed Dienbaba, 26, from Mauritania, is treated after injuries accumulated during the long boat trip from Nouadhibou.

‘We can't go on like this. We are only thirty doctors in all and over twenty thousand migrants arrived on the island in 2024. It's a disaster, and it's going to get worse and worse'. Ana Torres is a doctor in El Hierro's only hospital and today she is particularly disconsolate. Because the smallest and most remote of the Canary Islands, a UNESCO reserve and famous for its energy self-sufficiency, today has to deal with a new emergency: that of migrants. El Hierro has become the Lampedusa of the Atlantic, the new gateway to Europe for those arriving from West Africa. Hundreds of them disembark almost every day, after dangerous journeys that can last up to ten days in the waves of the Atlantic, on small wooden boats that set sail from ports in Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia. ‘The numbers are increasing year after year,’ says Francis Mendoza of the local Civil Defence, ‘and unfortunately so are the fatal shipwrecks. Migration to these latitudes increased massively after the Covid-19 epidemic, when increased border controls on the Mediterranean reactivated the Canary route and shifted the migratory balance'.

Ten years ago, El Hierro earned headlines in a different way: the volcanic island - twenty kilometres wide and inhabited by eleven thousand people (many are former emigrants who have returned from Venezuela) - decided to start producing clean energy through renewable sources such as water and wind, achieving energy independence for at least half the year. It was a worldwide success and everyone talked about it. ‘On the island you can recharge your electric car for free and in a couple of years‘ time,’ assures Cristina Morales Clavijo of the Gorona del Viento power station, ‘we will finally start harnessing solar energy’. Today El Hierro's priority seems to be something else. In recent years, the migrant emergency has become a dramatic phenomenon that affects the entire archipelago and for which no one - Frontex, Policia Nacional, Red Cross, Civil Defence, NGOs - has a solution to propose. One thing, however, is suggested by 18-year-old Omar Kebbeh, from Gambia, who landed in El Hierro on the morning of 26 August 2023 and stayed to live on the island: ‘offer training and a job to those who arrive,’ he suggests to me, sitting at a bar in the village of Frontera, ‘but convince the others not to leave. Africa must really be helped, otherwise migration will never end'.

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El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in La Restinga some boats carrying migrants from Africa are piled up in the grounds of the company Condaca Canarias SL, ready to be destroyed and disposed of.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), a group of migrants from Mali, Senegal and Gambia walked out of the Frontera reception center to take a walk to the natural pools of La Maceta.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), San Andrés is home to the CATE, Centro Móvil de Atención Temporal de Extranjeros (Mobile Centre for Temporary Reception of Foreign Nationals), run by the National Police and co-financed by the European Union.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), many migrants who arrived dead on the island were buried in the municipal cemetery of El Pinar in the south of the island.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), Lucha Canaria (Canarian wrestling) matches are held in the arena of the village of Guarazoca. In recent years, African boys who arrived here by boat and stayed on the island, adopted by local families, also participate in the wrestling.

On board the ferry that departed from the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), migrants who arrived by boat on the island from the African coast were taken to a refugee centre in the north of the island of Tenerife.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), on the outskirts of Valverde stand the five wind turbines that are part of the El Hierro Wind-Hydro Power Station, a project that contributes to making the island energy self-sufficient for at least half of the year.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), traditional musicians during the Sagrada Familia festival in the small village of Tiñor, south of Valverde.

On the island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), Omar Kebbeh, 18 years old, a Gambian, landed on the island on 26 August 2023 aboard a boat with 125 other people, after a journey that started from Senegal and lasted six days. Today Omar has been adopted by a family on the island and the boy, who would like to be an electrician, would like to stay here.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in La Restinga the engines of the boats transporting migrants from Africa are piled up in the yards of the company Condaca Canarias SL, ready to be disposed of.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), a group of migrants from Mali, Senegal and Gambia emerged from the Frontera reception center to take a walk to the natural pools of La Maceta, where they relax by chatting and taking photographs.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), a road crosses the northern valley of El Golfo, a large, particularly fertile semicircular depression that is home to the island's largest banana and pineapple plantations.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), a meeting of a section of the Agrupación Herreña Independiente (AHI) party is held in Valverde to discuss a range of local issues led by Asunción Amaro Perdomo (with blue shirt)

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), Mustafa Ndiaye, right, and his friend Karim, both 16 years old from Senegal, around the town of Valverde. They have been housed for about three months in the Valverde Juvenile Reception Center.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), an extinct volcano north of Valverde and not far from the airport.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), tourists of various backgrounds inside the approximately 90 metre long volcanic tube together with a guide from the nearby Ecomuseum of Guinea.

Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), migrants who arrived by boat on the island of El Hierro from the African coast got off the ferry at Los Cristianos and were taken by police to a refugee centre in the north of the island.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in the centre of the island the damp forest of El Brezal is populated by ancient laurisilva plants, typical of tropical areas.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), in the island's only hospital, the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Valverde, migrant and rancher Almani Diallo, 32, from Nouakchott, Mauritania, is treated after injuries accumulated during the long boat trip. Almani is married, has a 10-year-old son (Ademu) and wants to stay and live in Spain, where he would like to be reunited with his family sooner or later

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), sunset view of the north coast with the rocks called Roques de Salmor, now a nature reserve because endangered species nest there.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), the local parish priest and some believers accompany the statue of the Sagrada Familia during the procession in the small village of Tiñor, south of Valverde.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in the port of La Restinga, two workers move a boat carrying migrants from Africa and now destined to be destroyed.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in Valverde four migrants watch outside outside a refugee centre run by the Tragsa group and co-financed by the Spanish government and the European Union.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), in the evening a woman waits for a friend leaning against the wall of a house at the entrance to the village of San Andrés.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), in the turbine room of the El Hierro Wind-Hydro Power Station an employee works at the computer next to a model wind turbine.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), Maura Olivar celebrates her 73rd birthday with friends and family in a bar in Frontera.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), an emergency doctor talks to a patient, an African migrant who arrived in bad condition in the previous days after a long sea voyage, at the island's only hospital: the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Valverde.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), switchbacks near the Mirador del Lomo Negro descend to the sea along a volcanic ridge in the northwest of the island, the area where the most recent eruptive activity occurred.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), farmer Moisés Rodriguez at work in his banana grove protected by tarpaulins from the strong winds, on the outskirts of Frontera, in the fertile northern Valle de El Golfo.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), at Puerto de las Estaca migrants who arrived by boat on the island from the African coast are waiting to board the ferry to the island of Tenerife, where they will be taken by the police to a refugee centre in the north of the island.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), part of the northern valley of El Golfo, a large semicircular depression that is particularly fertile and home to the island's largest banana and pineapple plantations.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in the countryside of Frontera four young men from Tenerife, in order to relax, rented a house not far from the sea for a few days.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), the turbine hall of the El Hierro Wind-Hydro Power Station is reflected in the lower reservoir, with a capacity of 150,000 cubic metres of water.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), night training for the Barrio soccer team at the Mocanal sports field.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), tourists of various origins are about to enter the approximately 90-metre long volcanic tube together with a guide from the nearby Ecomuseum of Guinea.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), the road snakes into the mountain in the north of the island, with on the left the rocks called Roques de Salmor, now a nature reserve because endangered species nest there.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), at El Pozo de las Calcosas, forester Daniel Mentrel washes his girlfriend Anita's hair: the two live in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and are in El Hierro with their RV on a three-day vacation.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), south of Valverde rises the lower reservoir, which can hold up to 150,000 cubic metres of water: it is part of the El Hierro Wind-Hydroelectric Power Station, a project that contributes to making the island energy self-sufficient for at least half the year.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), a migrant from Senegal walked out of the Frontera reception center to take a walk to the natural pools of La Maceta, where she relaxes chatting with some fellow travelers.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), five elderly people play dominoes at the Cruz Alta bar in the village of Frontera.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), emergency physician Inmaculada Mora Peces talks to a patient, an African migrant who arrived in bad condition in the previous days after a long sea voyage, at the island's only hospital: the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes in Valverde.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), in the centre of the island a section of the La Llanía path passes through the damp forest of El Brezal, populated by pine and laurisilva trees.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), two women wait for a bus in the port of La Restinga, a stretch of coastline in the south of the island where migrants from Africa usually arrive.

Island of El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain), traditional dancers during the Sagrada Familia celebration in the small village of Tiñor, south of Valverde.

El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain), night view of calle Isla del Meridiano in Valverde. At the western end of El Hierro, for many centuries the most extreme island in the western world, ran the so-called Iron Meridian (“Hierro” means “iron” in Spanish).