Canary Islands migrants: ‘Try or die’ – one Senegalese man’s determination to reach Europe

“The consequence is that more people will die, we won’t be able to assist migrants as they deserve,” explains Mr Clavijo.

“Right now, Europe has the Mediterranean Sea blocked, which means that the Atlantic route, which is more dangerous and lethal, has become the escape valve.”

The BBC spoke to members of Spain’s emergency services, who asked to remain anonymous as they described their exhaustion.

One said: “Workers can’t bear witnessing death and devastation any longer.”

In El Hierro, the archipelago’s smallest island, the number of migrants who have arrived since the start of 2023 has already more than doubled the local population to nearly 30,000.

Mr Clavijo says locals cannot use public buses because they are all being used to carry migrants, which he fears could fuel xenophobia and create social unrest.

“We will all have to take responsibility, from the European Union to the Spanish government, because you cannot leave the Canary Islands facing this crisis on our own.”

In recent months, the sharp rise in arrivals has fuelled a fierce national debate in Spain over how to tackle irregular migration, with the Canaries calling for more state aid to care for those arriving, especially unaccompanied children.

Back in Senegal, Mr Oualy has finally been summoned by the smugglers to join other migrants in a secret hideout. His fate is now in their hands.

“There are a lot of us, we’ve filled the house. There are people from Mali and Guinea too. They take us in small boats of 10 to 15 people until we get to the big boat, then we leave,” he says.

To survive the long journey, Mr Oualy has only taken a few bottles of water and a handful of biscuits.

For the first two days, he is constantly sick. He stands up most of the time because of the lack of space and sleeps in sea water mixed with fuel.

He also runs out of water and has to drink from the sea.

Some people on the boat start to scream and become delirious. The crew tells the others to hold them down, so they do not fall overboard or push someone else in.