The Atlantic migration route to the Canary Islands constitutes one of the most prominent but also deadliest routes for irregular entrance to Europe from West Africa. The project aims to propose a comprehensive approach to the phenomenon of migration from Africa, specifically Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia, to Canary Islands through three areas of action: awareness-raising and communication, safety along migration routes, and the promotion of circular migration through vocational training. It is 85% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Interreg MAC 2021–2027 Program.
Eneris was mandated by the Foundation Energía sin Fronteras, member of the project consortium, to support its contribution to the project, focused on the energy and water dimension of the migratory journey to the Canary Islands. This perspective has been largely unexplored in previous research. The study aims to generate useful knowledge for the design of appropriate solutions aimed at ensuring basic energy and water access, providing decent living conditions for migrants and local communities. This raises significant logistical and social challenges, beyond the usual viability challenges of energy and water access projects: migration routes are constantly and rapidly changing, the consideration of the needs of the migrants cannot be disconnected from the needs of local communities, migrants are made invisible in public policies.
