Pope Leo XIV told migrants at a reception centre on the Spanish island of Tenerife on Friday that “all of us are migrants”, on the final day of a weeklong visit to Spain focused on the plight of irregular immigrants. France 24’s Sarah Morris has the latest. Source link
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday condemned “indifference” towards migrants during a visit to Spain’s Canary Islands that symbolised the perils of deadly irregular routes to Europe. The pontiff cast a bouquet of flowers into the sea in tribute to the thousands who have died trying to reach the Atlantic archipelago, on day six of a trip to Spain that has repeatedly highlighted the plight of migrants. Leo visited the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria island, where he met migrants and those who help them before blessing a cross made from the wood of migrant boats. “Even today, monsters lurk in these seas: mafias that profit from despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and those whose indifference allows the poor to be swallowed up by exploitation or forgetfulness,” Leo told a ceremony at the port. Migrants face a dangerous Atlantic crossing to reach the Canary Islands. © AFP (Stringer) Nearly 1,200 people died or went missing on the route from Africa to the Canary Islands last year, according to the International Organization for Migration, …
From showstopping resorts to off-grid escapes, discover which family-friendly stay in the Spanish archipelago is best suited to your brood Source link
A mock up of The Canary’s front page and sports page, set to soft launch in 6,500 newsagents on 26 May. Picture: The Canary The Canary is launching a daily weekday national newspaper after an injection of cash from a used-car website founder in 2025. Director and CEO of the Canary Steve Topple said the paper is being launched to give a different perspective to “corporate media” and described “the threat of a Reform government in 2029” as a driving force behind the launch. The 32-page tabloid will feature a mix of original reporting and content taken from the Canary’s website, such as politics and human rights pieces, as well as coverage from international guest authors, TV, sports, and fashion coverage, plus puzzles and horoscopes. It will print Monday to Friday and cost £1.20 at newsagents, “so we will be the cheapest tabloid on the market, tying with The Sun”, said Topple. Three staff have been hired to produce additional content for the paper, which will be edited by the Canary’s current editorial team. If …
I was around four years old when my parents bought me Crispin, my first pet. A handsome yellow canary, Crispin was bad-tempered and behaved like an alpha male. He would spend hours preening. I thought he was enchanting. A gentle female canary, Mariflor, arrived soon after. She became Crispin’s other half and the mother of their chicks, Maribel and Quintin. Having a canary family compensated for my lack of siblings and extended family. It gave me a sense of responsibility and filled my life with joy. Every day, I would let the canaries out of their cage and they were free to roam around the flat. Crispin’s favourite place was the globe in my bedroom. Standing imposingly, he regularly gave his opinion on global affairs by pooping on countries whose governments he disapproved of. At least that’s how it seemed to me as a child. It was the 1980s, the time of the cold war, and my parents, who were political exiles of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, had temporarily settled in Venezuela. My canaries’ …
Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, the passengers will then be transported to the airport and flown back to their respective countries. Keywords for this article Source link
Health workers in protective gear arrive to evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. Misper Apawu/AP hide caption toggle caption Misper Apawu/AP MADRID — Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations. The vessel is expected to reach the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, on Saturday or Sunday. “They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said Virginia Barcones, Spain’s head of emergency services, on Thursday. The MV Hondius is a Dutch-flagged vessel and Dutch officials said Friday they were also in close contact with the ship’s owner and authorities of countries whose citizens are on board. The United States has agreed to send a plane to the Canary Islands to repatriate its 17 citizens from the cruise ship, Barcones said. The British government also said it will charter …
Three people were evacuated Wednesday from the cruise ship facing a hantavirus outbreak in the Atlantic Ocean, as Swiss health authorities confirmed another case in Zurich, in a passenger who had already left the Hondius. The ship, which has been sitting off the coast of Cape Verde but not allowed to dock, is now set to head for Spain’s Canary Islands. Source link
The president of Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday pushed back against plans to allow a cruise ship suffering a deadly onboard hantavirus outbreak to dock in Tenerife. Regional President Fernando Clavijo also demanded an “urgent meeting” with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to discuss the issue. The hantavirus outbreak has already killed 3 of the roughly 150 passengers on the MV Hondius. The disease is typically linked to exposure to infected rodent droppings, but the WHO believes rare human-to-human transmission may have taken place aboard the cruise. Accusing Madrid of moving ahead without enough transparency, Clavijo said he opposed allowing the MV Hondius to dock in the archipelago’s ports. In an interview with the Cope radio network, he added that the decision to admit the ship did not follow “any technical criteria” and said the national government had failed to provide “sufficient information to maintain a message of calm.” Spanish Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres rejected the Canarian leader’s complaints and said Madrid had been in “constant contact” with his team. He added that …
Spain has granted permission for a luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak and anchored off the coast of Cape Verde to sail to the Canary Islands. Spain’s Ministry of Health said in a statement late on Tuesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) had explained that Cape Verde in West Africa was unable to receive the 147 crew and passengers of the MV Hondius. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities,” it said. “Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are also several Spanish citizens.” The ministry said it would receive a medical flight carrying the ship’s doctor, a Dutch national, who it said was gravely ill, following a formal request from the Dutch government. A Dutch couple and a German national have died of the rare disease, which is usually spread from infected rodents through urine, droppings and saliva, on board the ship in early April. A British national, who was evacuated from …
