Racist Threats Against Moroccan Migrants Surge in Canary Islands After Viral Video

In one of the videos, a man is seen in a vehicle, a large machete in hand, slowing down in front of a young Maghrebi and telling him: "Tell your friends to leave this fucking island".

These threatening messages began to circulate in the last few hours following a video showing violent clashes between two groups of alleged Maghrebis in a parking lot. Rumors then announced that a young person, attacked by an illegal immigrant during the clashes, had died. The news, which went viral on social networks, was finally denied by the national police and the government.

In an audio tracing a conversation in a WhatsApp group, potential aggressors of migrants discuss the day and time of the hunt: "Tomorrow, we will go down and we will blow them up. We are prepared. They will panic. We are armed to the teeth. They will die, I tell you clearly".

For its part, the national police said, thanks to citizen vigilance on social networks, that it had been informed of the preparation of these events and assured that arrangements are being made to avoid any incident.

In 2020, more than 23,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands by boat. In recent weeks, isolated incidents involving migrants have been recorded.