What changes for visitors and residents in the south?
No closure, price change or deadline linked to this rescue is known up to Friday 13 November. No disruption to the port, ferries or flights at El Hierro has been reported either.
The ferry companies were not asked about this. Anyone travelling in the coming days should check departure times directly with their operator.
La Restinga lies in the municipality of El Pinar, in the south of the island, and was where the rescued people landed. Visitors to the port may meet emergency crews there, and no official advice for guests had been published by Friday.
The island hospital received no patients from this boat. Emergency and medical teams treated all 119 people right on the quay.
What happened on Thursday night in La Restinga?
Salvamento Marítimo found the cayuco about 15 kilometres off El Hierro in an especially dangerous state. The boat was half sunk, so the people had to be moved to another vessel at sea.
The rescue unit Salvamar Diphda took them on board and brought them to La Restinga. The Salvamar Acrux had been alerted too, but the urgency meant it did not go into action.
Most of the 119 people were men of sub-Saharan origin, along with several women and minors. The report gave no numbers for women and children, and it did not name the country of origin.
After first aid, everyone was to go to the CATE of San Andrés in Valverde, a temporary state reception centre for foreigners. From there they move on to other reception facilities.
How many boats are reaching El Hierro at the moment?
On Thursday, a count showed 409 people reaching the island in six cayucos. The five boats before the half-sunk one carried 51, 75, 57, 54 and 53 people.
On the night of 6 November, Salvamento Marítimo had already brought 854 people from seven cayucos to La Restinga. Those boats carried 134, 174, 166, 235, 54, 39 and 52 people.
Around 350 people then took the ferry to Tenerife in the morning. The central government planned another 350 for the afternoon.
In October the Interior Ministry counted 6,194 arrivals on the Canary route, more than the 5,163 from January to August combined. The ministry says this is the highest pressure since 2023.
Anselmo Pestana, the Delegado del Gobierno (the central government's representative), visited La Restinga on 9 November. He puts the rise down to calm seas.
How much strain is the island's reception system under?
On 13 October the CATE of San Andrés housed almost 600 people and was close to saturation. About 400 people were due to be transferred to Tenerife at that time.
The usual route runs from the CATE to the former convent of La Frontera and then to Tenerife. When Tenerife fills up too, people stay longer on El Hierro.
As of 9 November, empty boats were piling up on the pier at La Restinga because the usual crane is broken. A mobile crane was brought in, and the boats get in the way of rescues, fishermen and diving clubs.
The health union Asamblea7Islas says migrants occupy 15 of the 30 beds in the island hospital. It calls for a military field hospital on the quay.
What is still open?
The report does not say whether anyone died or is missing from this crossing. It also leaves out the country of departure, the route and the time at sea.
By Friday there was no statement on this operation from Salvamento Marítimo, the Cabildo de El Hierro (the island government) or the Delegación del Gobierno. Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo recently demanded an urgent Junta de Seguridad (security board), and ministry sources rule it out, according to the report.
The Interior Ministry is likely to publish its figures for 1 to 15 November next, but no date is known. More transfers to Tenerife are likely, though nobody has named dates yet.