Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy has warned the Canary Islands risk driving away holidaymakers who might choose different destinations

The Jet2 boss has issued a warning about the potential impact of anti-tourism protests and policies in the Canary Islands.

Jet2’s CEO Steve Heapy has warned that the Canary Islands are playing a “dangerous game” when it comes to tourism policies. His comments come after ‘anti-tourism’ protests were held across the island last year, with locals raising concerns about the impact of visitors on the environment, local infrastructure and housing prices.

Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people from the boat that had left Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, on board.

The Foreign Office on Saturday issued a statement announcing that 22 Pakistanis who survived a migrant vessel capsizing near Morocco will be repatriated. The FO said on January 16 that the boat, carrying 80 passengers, capsized near Morocco, with over 40 Pakistanis reportedly among the dead.

Spain’s marine rescue service on Thursday said that more than 550 migrants have reached its Canary Islands in boats over the past two days.

In 2024, an average of nearly two migrant boats reached the Canary Islands each day. 692 boats in all carried more than 46,000 people that year, mostly from Mauritania, Senegal and Morocco. The majority arrive to the tiny,

Says several Pakistani survivors are in a camp near port of Dakhla; NGO chief says 44 Pakistanis among those presumed to have drowned.

By most accounts, Gran Canaria is the warmest Canary Island in February, with average maximum temperatures of 22C, and typical lows of around 15C.

At least 69 migrants, including 44 Pakistanis, died after a boat capsized off Morocco’s coast while attempting to reach Spain. The tragedy underscores the deadly risks of the Atlantic migration route,

The embassy in Morocco reported that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including several Pakistanis, capsized near the Dakhla port in Morocco, having set off from Mauritania as the survivors, including Pakistanis, are currently residing in a camp near Dakhla.

“Fifty people have died on a boat headed for the Canary Islands, 44 of whom were Pakistani,” CEO of Caminando Fronteras / Walking Borders Helena Maleno, wrote on X. “They spent 13 agonising days at sea without rescuers reaching them.”