MADRID (AP) — Riot police detained eight people and reportedly fired rubber bullets to break up clashes between migrants at a camp in Spain’s Canary Islands on Tuesday.
Authorities said the migrants were taken into custody after police were called to Las Raices, the largest migrant camp on the island of Tenerife. Migrant support groups complain the facility is overcrowded and conditions inadequate.
Accem, a charity working at the camp, said police resorted to rubber bullets to stop the disturbance.
One Senegalese migrant at the camp, who asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisals, told the Associated Press that the fight apparently fight broke out late Monday between Senegalese and Moroccans over food.
He said several people were injured and ambulances went to the camp. Authorities didn’t immediately provide more details.
The facility was built for 2,400 migrants who are housed in rows of white tents.
Problems have plagued the camp since it opened, with complaints that it is cold and crowded, lacks adequate hot water and serves inedible meals. Police detained several residents this month amid tensions over food.
More than 23,000 people from Morocco and West Africa arrived on the Spanish archipelago in the past year.
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