A hotel in Guardamar del Segura has welcomed 231 Senegalese migrants who have arrived from the Canary Islands. The mayor, Mayor José Luis Sáez (PSOE), confirmed that it is an agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and the hotel establishment that will last until the end of the year.
As such, the 4 star Parque Mar Hotel is now at one hundred percent occupancy in the middle of the low season, receiving around 40 euros per person from the Ministry.
Last month, 9,000 people arrived on the coast of the Canary Islands who are all being distributed across different provinces so as not to break down the reception network on the islands.
Despite arriving in Spain illegally, migrants do not have their freedom of movement restricted. The group that arrived in Guardamar comprises only of young men, neither minors nor women. The only restriction they must observe is from ten at night when the hotel closes its front door.
During most of the day they can be found congregating in groups around the hotel establishment, next to the Reina Sofía park or near the beach.
According to the mayor most of the men are from Senegal, they are French-speaking and have family ties in France and Belgium, countries to which they may be moved in the coming weeks.
In the province there is another small group of Senegalese in Alicante, while 800 are currently being housed in Gandía.
The Ministry of the Interior has not been able to carry out the return of the Senegalese to their country of origin, which is the usual protocol, as the Senegalese authorities have rejected return charter flights. Migrants use their savings and risk their lives to reach Europe. They arrive in Spain irregularly in search of better living conditions.
