With rolling, golden sands and clear blue oceans, the Canary Islands are a renowned tourist destination.
Last year, 18.4 million people visited the islands, bringing in more than €23m (£19.6m) in revenue.
But beyond the tourist buzz is a starkly different reality. The Spanish archipelago is one of the world’s hotspots for irregular migration, with 17,788 people arriving by small boat last year.
Shorts
Last week, more than 60,000 people crossed the sea border from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta, many of them swimming. European Commissioner Magnus Brunner said on Tuesday that the surge had been fuelled by criminal smuggling networks and disinformation on social media.
