Thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday against migrants arriving in the Canary Islands by sea. Last year, nearly 40,000 immigrants arrived on the islands.
There were demonstrations in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz on Tenerife.
– We no longer dare to let our children out into the streets, because we are afraid that they will be stabbed or raped, reasoned a participant in the demonstration in Las Palmas Zulema Ruiz37.
The majority of those illegally trying to reach Europe try to reach the continent via Greece, Italy or Spain. The dangerous Atlantic sea route has recently grown in popularity because it is less controlled than the Mediterranean.
In recent years, thousands of people have drowned trying to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats of people smugglers.