In a rare public intervention before the regional Parliament, María Farnés Martínez ‒ the chief prosecutor of the Canary Islands ‒ flatly rejected claims that rising irregular arrivals to the archipelago are fuelling violent crime. Presenting her office’s 2024 annual report on 27 October, Martínez told MPs that “hoy por hoy no tenemos ningún dato” (“as of today we have no data”) linking migrant flows with higher criminality.
The statement is significant because the Atlantic route to Spain has again become Europe’s busiest maritime migration corridor, with more than 39 000 people landing in the islands so far this year. Hot‐button rhetoric from opposition politicians and police unions had portrayed newcomers as a public-security threat. By publicly correcting that narrative, Martínez gives local authorities and NGOs firmer footing when requesting EU solidarity funds aimed at humanitarian reception rather than policing.
From a corporate-mobility perspective, the clarification helps safeguard the Canary Islands’ reputation as Spain’s “free-zone” hub for renewable-energy and audiovisual projects that depend on highly mobile international staff. Constant headlines conflating crime and migration risk deterring skilled workers and support services. The prosecutor’s data-based stance could also ease labour-market access for arrivals: business confederations on Tenerife and Gran Canaria are lobbying Madrid to let asylum seekers work sooner to fill tourism and construction vacancies.
Practically, global mobility managers should note that public discourse in Spain remains highly decentralised; regional officials such as prosecutors can decisively shape local permit decisions, police priorities and media tone. Companies relocating staff to the Canaries should continue to monitor island-level guidelines on residence registration and family reunification, which often evolve faster than national rules.
The statement is significant because the Atlantic route to Spain has again become Europe’s busiest maritime migration corridor, with more than 39 000 people landing in the islands so far this year. Hot‐button rhetoric from opposition politicians and police unions had portrayed newcomers as a public-security threat. By publicly correcting that narrative, Martínez gives local authorities and NGOs firmer footing when requesting EU solidarity funds aimed at humanitarian reception rather than policing.
From a corporate-mobility perspective, the clarification helps safeguard the Canary Islands’ reputation as Spain’s “free-zone” hub for renewable-energy and audiovisual projects that depend on highly mobile international staff. Constant headlines conflating crime and migration risk deterring skilled workers and support services. The prosecutor’s data-based stance could also ease labour-market access for arrivals: business confederations on Tenerife and Gran Canaria are lobbying Madrid to let asylum seekers work sooner to fill tourism and construction vacancies.
Practically, global mobility managers should note that public discourse in Spain remains highly decentralised; regional officials such as prosecutors can decisively shape local permit decisions, police priorities and media tone. Companies relocating staff to the Canaries should continue to monitor island-level guidelines on residence registration and family reunification, which often evolve faster than national rules.
