Spain's prime minister visits Canary Islands to discuss irregular migration and unaccompanied minors

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Spain’s leader has met with the regional president of the Canary Islands to discuss irregular migration as the archipelago struggles to care for thousands of unaccompanied minors who made it there

BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s leader met with the regional president of the Canary Islands on Friday to discuss irregular migration as the archipelago struggles to care for thousands of unaccompanied minors who made it there.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a socialist, has been on vacation with his family in Lanzarote, one of the islands in the archipelago, since earlier this month. He's now back to work and held talks with regional President Fernando Clavijo, who governs the Canary Islands in coalition with the conservative Popular Party.

Crowded boats carrying migrants keep arriving to the Canaries, which are located in the Atlantic Ocean and are closer to the northwestern African coast than mainland Spain.

Sánchez’s meeting with Clavijo on La Palma, another island in the Canaries, came a few days before he travels to Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia to tackle the issue of irregular migration. The West African nations are the main launching pads for migrants traveling by boat.

While Sánchez didn't make statements following the meeting, his minister for territorial policy and democratic memory, Ángel Victor Torres, who is also the former regional leader of the Canary Islands, said that discussions with Clavijo had been fruitful.

Torres announced on behalf of the Spanish government 50 million euros $55.6 million) for the archipelago, extra help that had already been given in previous years but had been left out this year.

The archipelago has become one of the main points of entry for irregular migrant arrivals into the European