Spain PM heads to West Africa as migrant arrivals surge

Madrid: Spain s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez heads on a three day visit to West Africa on Tuesday, as his government grapples with a major upsurge in...

Madrid: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez heads on a three-day visit to West Africa on Tuesday, as his government grapples with a major upsurge in migrant arrivals.

Nearly every day, Spain's coastguard rescues a boat carrying dozens of African migrants towards the Canary islands off the northwest coast of Africa. The islands' government has pleaded for more help.

Sanchez's tour will take him to Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal, three key countries in the migration crisis.

It was not known what incentives he could offer -- notably to Mauritania, the main departure point, which he visited six months ago -- to encourage authorities to step up efforts to prevent migrants from leaving. Madrid estimates there are some 200,000 people in Mauritania waiting to go to the Canaries.

Fernando Clavijo, the regional leader of the islands who met Sanchez on Friday, urged the European Union to do more "so that the Canary Islands do not have to shoulder all of Europe's migratory pressure on its own".