Story By: Lisa-Maria Goertz, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A Spanish camp that houses around 400 migrants, all-male and mostly of Moroccan descent, has hit the headlines this week after residents sent images of their tents flooded with faecal water.

The incident was reported at Camp 50, an old military barracks in the neighbourhood of La Isleta in Las Palmas, capital of the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.

Camp 50 is currently home to around 400 individuals, all men and most of Moroccan nationality.

The camp is also said to be close to reaching capacity and becoming overcrowded.

Camp residents sent images to various media outlets on Monday showing brown sewage water running through the camp, flooding the tents they sleep and live in.

One resident told the newspaper El Pais: “Something broke in the early hours of the morning at which point the sewage system started to release urine and filth into the camp.”

The resident went on to describe how the sewage got under carpets in the tents, resulting in an unbearable stench and leaving everything soaking wet.

Las Palmas mayor Augusto Hidalgo told the newspaper El Diario that it was a “one-off incident” caused by heavy rainfall and that various other sewage systems across the city had also flooded.

The mayor said the sewage system is currently being unclogged and the situation “will not repeat itself in the future”.

Similar images of flooding were shared less than a week ago on 4th February.

The images show flooded tents and people up to their ankles in water.

Gran Canaria is currently home to around 7,000 immigrants, many of whom cross from the African continent in search of a better life.

The Canary Islands have reportedly experienced a surge in the number of immigrants arriving on its shores during the pandemic and are struggling to cope.

Protests and hunger strikes are not uncommon in the camps as residents reportedly become frustrated with poor living conditions and the time-consuming process of trying to obtain documents to become legal in Spain.

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