Moroccan Migrant Stranded in Canary Islands Amid Housing Crisis

Mohamed Alaoui, a 31-year-old Moroccan, arrived in the Canary Islands by boat last November. After exhausting the maximum stay period in a migrant center, as provided for by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Assistance (CEAR), he settled in Playa de las Alcaravaneras with other migrants. Despite his asylum application, he is not allowed to take a flight to Madrid, and has no roof over his head, while waiting.

Alaoui is trying to get out of this situation, with the help of Nerea Rodríguez, a volunteer from the Somos Red citizen platform. The two of them drive around the Arenales district council and the Gánigo municipal reception center.

Arriving at La Isleta, Rodríguez explains the young Moroccan’s situation to an agent who invites them to come back another day and be there earlier to have a chance of being served, as they only receive five people per day. But he already tells them that Alaoui will not be able to be taken in because he is not registered in the city and is not on the waiting list of people who can benefit from the available accommodations at the town hall. Disappointed, the two friends decide to call Caritas, as a last resort. There too, no availability to accommodate Alaoui, but he can be allowed to access the dining room and bathroom.

In desperation, he rushes to the airport to buy a plane ticket to Madrid, thinking he won’t run into any problems since a judge had recently ordered the police to allow a migrant in the same situation as him, with a passport and an asylum application, to travel. After passing security control at Gando, Alaoui was arrested and detained at the airport police station until his flight took off. "I decided to escape the poverty and problems I had in Morocco, where there is no work and life was difficult," says Alaoui, whose dream of reaching Spain has, for now, been shattered.