Spain's Canary Islands 'abandoned' in migrant crisis: leader

Madrid: Spain s Canary Islands feel abandoned as irregular migrant arrivals smash records and the political class lacks solidarity , the region s l...

Madrid: Spain's Canary Islands feel "abandoned" as irregular migrant arrivals smash records and the political class lacks "solidarity", the region's leader said in an interview published on Monday.

Reception centres in the Atlantic archipelago are straining to host tens of thousands of migrants who arrive from west Africa after a perilous journey in often ramshackle boats.

The left-wing national government and the regional administrations -- many run by the conservative opposition -- have failed to agree on a plan to share the burden.

"We feel abandoned and alone," the archipelago's leader Fernando Clavijo told daily newspaper El Mundo.

"It is the first time under democracy that a territory in an emergency situation is suffering a lack of solidarity from the government of Spain, which does not take on its obligations," but also from the regions, he added.