The number of illegal migrants arriving in the Canary Islands between 1er January and August 15 more than doubled compared to the same period last year, according to figures released Monday, August 19, by the Spanish Interior Ministry.
The issue of illegal immigration to Europe and how to reduce it will dominate Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's visit to three West African countries – Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal – next week.
Mr Sanchez's visit to Mauritania will be his second in six months. He visited the country in February with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who announced €210 million in aid as part of increased cooperation with Nouakchott.
Spain is one of the main gateways to Europe for thousands of African migrants, the majority of whom choose the sea route to the Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa.
Increase in arrivals in Ceuta
The Spanish non-governmental organisation (NGO) Caminando Fronteras, which helps migrants, estimates that more than 5,000 of them have died at sea in the first five months of the year, an average of 33 deaths per day, while trying to reach the Canary Islands. This figure is explained by the extreme danger of this sea route, due to very strong currents, while the migrants travel in makeshift boats in poor condition and overloaded.
For Spain as a whole, figures from the Interior Ministry show a 66.2% increase in the total number of migrants arriving in the country by sea or land between 1er January and August 15 (from 18,745 to 31,155). But this increase is explained almost entirely by the situation in the Canaries, since the number of arrivals in the peninsula and the Balearic Islands has, for its part, decreased by 11%.
The figures also show a very significant increase in the number of migrants arriving in Ceuta – one of the two small Spanish enclaves located on the African continent – by land, that is, by crossing the border with Morocco: their number almost tripled between 1er January and August 15 compared to last year (from 587 to 1,605). Ceuta and the other Spanish enclave located in Moroccan territory, Melilla, constitute the EU's only land borders with the African continent and are, as such, subject to strong migratory pressure.
Source: Lemonde
