The King of Spain, Felipe VI, today considered international cooperation in areas such as justice increasingly necessary in the face of a highly globalized world and the increase in migratory movements.
"It is a world in which migratory movements are intensifying and accelerating. More and more people are moving to other countries for work, family, economic or educational reasons, or to escape conflict or poverty. This makes international cooperation increasingly urgent and necessary in many areas, among them, most notably, justice", stated the Spanish head of state.
In his defense of greater international cooperation in justice, Felipe VI also referred, in addition to migratory movements, to the "increasingly globalized world in which crime is not limited by borders and its ramifications and consequences can reach everywhere" and where "people and companies are increasingly expanding their scope of movement, activity and existence to a greater number of countries".
After considering technology a "powerful ally", Felipe VI called for international cooperation to speed up the fight against organized crime, drug and human trafficking and corruption.
The King of Spain was speaking at the opening of the 2nd meeting of Ministers of Justice of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, an archipelago that has been dealing with an unprecedented number of migrant arrivals in precarious boats from Africa since last year.
More than 25,500 people have arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of the year irregularly, in boats known as 'pateras' or 'cayucos', an increase of 123% compared to 2023, according to data from the Spanish Government.
In the whole of 2023, 39,910 people arrived in the Spanish archipelago in this way, the highest number ever recorded in official statistics.
In Spain as a whole, the number of migrants who entered the country irregularly between January and August this year was 35,456, an increase of 62.8% compared to 2023, mainly due to the Canary Islands.
Spain - with coasts on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and two cities that are enclaves in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla) - is one of the countries in the European Union (EU) that directly deals with the largest number of arrivals of irregular migrants who wish to enter European territory.
The President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was supposed to be with Felipe VI today in Tenerife, at the opening session of the meeting of Justice Ministers, but cancelled the trip because of the fires.
In his speech today in Tenerife, Felipe VI greeted those present also in Portuguese and after justifying the absence of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he conveyed solidarity and support to the President of the Republic "in such difficult circumstances" and hoped that the fire situation in Portugal "stabilizes as soon as possible".
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