The president of the Canary Islands acknowledges that good relations with Morocco have caused fewer immigrants to arrive

MADRID, 17 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has attributed to a certain extent the reduction in the arrival of immigrants to the archipelago to the reestablishment of relations between Spain and Morocco, although he has warned that "the more ultra movements appear in Europe, the greater difficulties there will be for give an answer to this problem.

This is how the Canarian president expressed himself at an informative breakfast of the Nueva Economía Fórum on the reduction of approximately 30% in the arrival of immigrants to the archipelago, proclaiming that the coastal territories of Spain "are interested" in a good relationship with neighboring countries , as is the case of Morocco.

"It is good news that we see that the arrival of immigration has been reduced by 30%. Is it the result of the good relations between Spain and Morocco? Probably yes, what is obvious is that when there are bad relations, the agreements are not fulfilled ", said Ángel Víctor Torres.

In this regard, the Canarian president has insisted that the migratory phenomenon is a matter "that the European Union has to respond to" because, as he has warned, these movements "cannot be reduced to only the border territories having to receive it".

Precisely, Ángel Víctor Torres has starred in this forum in Madrid one day before the opening of the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) and has taken advantage of this occasion to claim the latest data that 2022 has left in this sector.

In this way, the Canarian president has estimated that some 14.6 million tourists have visited the archipelago over the past year, a number somewhat lower than in 2019, the year before the pandemic, but with a "much higher" billing.

For the future, Torres has projected "good forecasts" for this year that began two weeks ago, also highlighting other sectors, such as the audiovisual or the digital economy.

The president of the archipelago has also ruled on the departure of the central executive of the current Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, to be the socialist candidate for the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city council, highlighting the work of the minister.

Regarding a Canarian 'quota' after the departure of Darias from the Council of Ministers, Torres has acknowledged that he would like there to be a minister from the archipelago, although he believes that it is not up to him to say so or pressure the chief executive, Pedro Sánchez.

In any case, he has defended that Canarian socialism has a "quarry" so that Sánchez can bring someone to the Council of Ministers.