Cases of racial discrimination increased by 13% in 2024, with a total of 2,913 incidents recorded nationwide, according to data from the annual report of the Victim Assistance and Support Service for Discrimination. However, the number of cases in the Canary Islands has decreased. From the 187 incidents recorded in 2023, the following year saw only 150, a reduction of 20%.
CEAR warns that this decrease is due to the fear of reporting by migrants who worry about potential repercussions due to their administrative status. Roberto Zuppa, a technician at CEAR in Las Palmas, points out that many individuals who come forward to discuss their experiences of discrimination are afraid to report them. “We don’t care about their administrative status in these cases,” as the priority is to report and for them to be aware of their rights.
Acompañamiento Canarias registered 150 cases (117 individual and 33 collective), representing 5% of the national total. The Archipelago ranks at an intermediate level compared to other autonomous communities. Madrid leads the list with 498 cases, followed by Andalucía (314), Baleares (229), and Cataluña (221). On the lower end are regions like Extremadura (55 cases) and the Basque Country (56 cases).
In the Islands, assistance is channelled through the in-person offices in Las Palmas (66 cases) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (84 cases). Zuppa states, “We attend to the individual, we provide support, we offer advice, and we register the report.” “Although in many cases, for example here in the province of Las Palmas, where I work, it is more about prevention through training with different agents. Beyond reporting, we also aim to find solutions,” he adds.
From his experience in Las Palmas, the CEAR technician highlights that many cases occur in banking, where individuals are denied the opening of bank accounts, for instance; as well as in healthcare, where medical services are billed to resource-poor migrants, even those with serious illnesses, necessitating legal routes for claims. Moreover, discrimination also occurs in areas such as housing—both in access to purchase or rental—and difficulties in registration, which block access to other basic rights.
Regarding employment, Zuppa observes that while contract rights, such as agreed salaries, are usually respected, there are instances of excessive work hours and obstacles to work-life balance. Overall, “administrative barriers or lack of access to certain services cause significant mental health problems,” he notes.
Nationally, the main area of discrimination identified is access to goods and services (23% of cases), followed by employment (14%), healthcare (11%), and housing (10%).
Zuppa emphasises that there are public resources in the Canary Islands for reporting and advising, such as the Victim Assistance Office of the Government of the Canary Islands (still in the structuring phase). “From CEAR, we address issues of racial or ethnic discrimination. There are also specific resources for women—such as Women’s Cooperation and Solidarity—employment access, labour rights (CEPAIM and trade unions), or equality in healthcare services, like ODDUS—with whom they have developed an “informal” complaints model for discrimination cases. Additionally, we collaborate with the National Police and the Civil Guard, who have specialised units in discrimination and hate crimes,” Zuppa explains.
The CEDRE report concludes that making cases of racial discrimination visible and reporting them is key to combating underreporting and improving the response of public institutions, which is why they encourage victims or witnesses of racial discrimination to utilise the free assistance service (phone 021, WhatsApp, and in-person offices) for legal and psychosocial advice.
