What changes for visitors and residents in the south?
The protest took place in La Restinga, the fishing port in the south of El Hierro. Reports of 6 November mention no port or travel closures.
The hospital feels the strain most. On Friday its management called the Hospital de El Hierro “absolutely overloaded” and warned that A&E could collapse.
The reports give no new rules or advice for residents and guests, and there is no statement from the Cabildo (island government) or the central government. Anyone travelling in the south should ask their landlord or provider about short-notice changes.
What happened off the coast since Thursday evening?
More than 1,000 people have been rescued since 21:00 on Thursday 5 November and taken to El Hierro, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, according to reports on operations by Salvamento Marítimo (state sea rescue). At least one person died.
At 21:00 the Salvamar Navia landed 92 rescued people, found about 74 kilometres off the island. Among them were five women and two minors.
Around 23:45 the Helimer 204 helicopter spotted two cayucos about 56 kilometres off El Hierro. The Salvamar Diphda picked up 218 and 283 people, among them one dead person.
Both boats reached La Restinga. At 00:58 on Friday the Salvamar Navia escorted a cayuco carrying 174 people into the harbour.
At 04:42 the Salvamar Mizar escorted another boat, whose occupants were initially unclear. A cayuco with 61 people on board went to Arrecife on Lanzarote.
How full is the hospital on El Hierro?
As early as 26 October, Luis González, medical director of the Hospital Insular Nuestra Señora de los Reyes, asked for more Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil officers. They should move treated migrants off the island faster, and the state should provide the resources.
By that day in October, A&E had treated 86 migrants, against 5 in October 2025. On the wards lay 21 migrants instead of 2 a year earlier, and about 10 at the time of his statement, with 31 beds in total.
González spoke of no overload, but said staff were a little overwhelmed. Nursing director Jorge Silva criticised the care post in the CATE (police reception centre), which sits inside a police compound outside the hospital’s control.
“We cannot work like this,” said Silva. The hospital is looking for alternatives but named none.
What do residents demand, and who is responsible?
A group of La Restinga residents wants to show its opposition to the cayuco arrivals at the port and demands urgent action from the authorities. The reports named neither the organisers nor the number of participants.
The discontent is not new: on 29 March 2025 about 100 residents marched through La Restinga, according to reports. They criticised Red Cross facilities on the quay, dismantled cayucos in the harbour and the loss of services such as healthcare.
According to the sources, the state is responsible for border control and for receiving adults, and the Canary Islands government for minors. Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, called the situation untenable on 6 November, according to RTVC, and again asked Pedro Sánchez for an urgent meeting.
How are arrivals developing, and what comes next?
About 3,200 people reached the Canaries from 1 to 5 November, roughly 600 of them on El Hierro on Thursday alone, according to figures from the Canarian regional broadcaster. In October the Canary Islands government provisionally counted more than 4,000 arrivals.
By 25 October the count stood at 3,814, of which 2,776 were on El Hierro. The Interior Ministry counted 1,837 arrivals from 1 to 15 October, against 643 a year earlier (up 185%).
From January to 15 October there were 8,970, against 13,491 (down 33.5%). Anselmo Pestana, Delegado del Gobierno en Canarias (the central government’s representative), put the rise down to calm seas.
The Canary Islands government asked the state for an extraordinary emergency plan, more funding for Salvamento Marítimo and medical reinforcements in the CATE. Whether and when Madrid will reply is unknown.
The sources give no date or deadline. There is also no information on conditions in the CATE or on how the costs of reception, healthcare and waste are split.