Desperate Migrants, Tourists Flock to Canary Islands

Spanish tourism officials in the Canary Islands fear a flood of illegal immigrants will scare away the sun-seeking visitors on whom the islands' economy depends.

The Canaries welcomed almost 10 million tourists in 2005 and, so far, the visitors keep rolling in to the haven of luxury hotels and golden beaches.

But the Spanish islands, off northwest Africa, are no longer merely a magnet for stressed Europeans. Nearly 9,500 African migrants seeking a better life in Europe braved the perilous 600-mile sea journey in small boats from Northern Africa to land on the Canaries from January to May. That's about twice the number that arrived in the same period last year.

While few tourists actually see them come ashore in rickety boats, parched and exhausted, Jose Manuel Bermudez, the Tenerife local government's head of tourism, says he fears international media coverage will scare off holidaymakers.