‘These boys are lost’: The British hotelier putting up migrants in the Canary Islands

More than 25,000 people have arrived in the Canary Islands from west Africa in recent times. One couple has decided to help, reports Graham Keeley in Spain

Calvin Lucock (left) with some of those who have managed to get to the Canary Islands (Calvin Lucock)

Easter is normally when Calvin Lucock is gearing up for the arrival of British tourists, but instead this year he is paying the hotel bill for migrants who have taken a very different route to the Canary Islands.

The British hotelier is providing accommodation for 52 migrants who risked their lives to get to the Spanish archipelago by making the treacherous Atlantic crossing from western Africa in the hope of starting a new life in Europe.

More than 25,000 migrants have arrived on the Spanish holiday island since the start of last year, with authorities unable to cope as the Canaries became the latest focus of Europe’s migrant crisis.