Tunte, the seat of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana town council, is on Pope Francis' agenda for his foreseeable visit to Gran Canaria for two reasons: air logistics by helicopter from Gran Canaria Airport and the fact that it hosts a centre for unaccompanied migrants. It is one of the key reasons that the Holy See is considering because going to Maspalomas, as expected at the Ecumenical Centre, "could generate more security problems than advantages, just as going to Las Palmas is better; it is better to go to Vecindario". The option of Tunte is one of those that has been dropped by the circle of power that is organising this visit, which, as is evident, is still in a very early phase. As an example, there is still no formal invitation from Spain.
The Holy Father said last September at a press conference on board the plane returning from his tour of Asia and Oceania that he wants to travel to the Canary Islands in order to express his "closeness to the rulers and the people." "I'm thinking a bit about this, about going to the Canary Islands because there is the situation with the migrants who arrive from the sea and I would like to be close to the rulers and the people of the Canary Islands" on a possible trip to Argentina at the age of 87.
Last weekend, the Pope referred to the latest migratory tragedy that occurred in El Hierro - the shipwreck of a cayuco on the island of El Hierro in the early hours of this Saturday, in which nine people died and almost fifty are missing while being rescued and he expressed his "pain" in this regard. "I feel pain for those people who disappeared in the Canary Islands. Today so many, so many migrants who seek freedom are lost at sea or near the sea. Let us think of Crotona, 100 meters away. It is enough to make you cry, it is enough to make you cry," said Francis during the press conference he gave on the plane that brought him back from his trip to Belgium and Luxembourg, according to Vatican News.
