Just eleven days before the entry into force of the European Migration and Asylum Pact, the Government of the Canary Islands has expressed its demand to actively participate in its monitoring. The Minister of Social Welfare, Candelaria Delgado, announced after the Governing Council the approval of a position paper addressed to the General State Administration. In this document, the regional executive requests detailed information on available resources, implementation timelines, and the specific territorial application of the new European framework in the archipelago.
Delgado warned that, as of today, the Canary Islands are unaware of the specific conditions for the pact's deployment. "Its sectoral conference has not yet been convened, and we do not know how this migratory pact will be implemented in the Canary Islands or in Spain," stated the minister, who explained that the approved report incorporates contributions from the Canary Migration Forum. According to her statements, the Canary Islands "have not been taken into account or informed about how this pact will affect the islands" and still do not know "the specific conditions of its deployment in the national territory and its projection in the different autonomous communities," especially those facing greater migratory pressure.
The regional executive demands immediate inclusion in the monitoring and control mechanisms for reception conditions, as well as contingency plans. Delgado argued that the Canary Islands' participation "should not be understood as a merely consultative matter, but as a necessary condition to anticipate impact, coordinate responses, and preserve social cohesion in the affected territories." She recalled that the Canary Islands, as an outermost region and the southern border of the EU, have endured high migratory pressure, with over 165,000 arrivals between 2020 and 2025, in addition to 2,989 unaccompanied migrant minors under its guardianship.
The minister highlighted the "very high" pressure on the regional protection system and the inadequacy of distribution mechanisms to other communities and member states. Therefore, the Canary Islands government demands participation in decision-making regarding aspects developed within the framework of the European pact and in contingency plans. The objective is to "directly understand its development, anticipate needs, report incidents, and contribute to its application being adequately adjusted to the territorial, economic, social, and institutional specificities of the archipelago."
Delgado specified some of the issues on which information is requested: legal assistance, translation and interpretation services, cultural mediation, intercultural training for human resources, age determination tests, and care for migrant minors. "There are many issues that change with the European Pact, and the autonomous communities have not been informed," she lamented, recalling the possibility of the Canary Islands becoming a detention area for migrants and the uncertainty regarding the duration of such detention and transfers to mainland centers.
Although she acknowledged the unviability of a Sectoral Conference before the pact's entry into force, Delgado insisted on the need for participation in monitoring mechanisms. "As we have been excluded from the design and development of the national response plan to this European pact, what we are demanding is the participation of the Canary Islands in the monitoring of procedures," she stated. She also recalled sending a letter to the Minister of Migration requesting an urgent convening of the Conference following the "resounding failure" of the sectoral commission on May 18.
