Canary Islands migrant arrivals soar as Spain PM eyes West Africa trip

MADRID: The number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands more than doubled in the first 7.5 months of 2024 as Spain’s prime minister announced plans to visit West Africa next week.
Figures show that 22,304 migrants reached the Atlantic archipelago in the period to August 15, up from 9,864 in the same period a year earlier, Interior Ministry numbers show.
The figure represents a 126-percent increase year on year.
With the figures soaring, the office of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he would leave on August 27 for a three-day visit to Mauritania, The Gambia, and Senegal, whose shores have seen countless boats packed with migrants setting sail for the Spanish archipelago.
Spain is one of the main gateways for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, with the vast majority making the perilous journey to the Canary Islands, which lie off Africa’s northwestern coast.
It will be Sanchez’s second visit to Mauritania in six months — his last trip was in February alongside EU president Ursula von der Leyen, who announced €210 million in funding for migration management as part of an enhanced cooperation program with Nouakchott.
Since late last year, Mauritania has been the main departure point for the wooden boats reaching the Canary Islands, Spanish media reports say, in a trend that is likely to increase after the summer when the waters are calmer.
The West African nation is itself experiencing enormous migratory pressure, hosting more than 150,000 displaced persons, EU figures show, with the flow of migrants into Mauritania showing no signs of letting up.
The Atlantic route to the Spanish islands is dangerous due to strong currents, with migrants traveling in overloaded, often unseaworthy, boats without enough drinking water.
However, it has grown in popularity due to increased vigilance in the Mediterranean.
At their closest point, the islands lie 100 km off the coast of North Africa, the shortest route running between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the island of Fuerteventura.
But many boats leave far away, setting sail from shores further south, from Western Sahara down through the coastlines of Mauritania, The Gambia, and Senegal.
More than 5,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year, or the equivalent of 33 deaths per day, according to Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish charity that monitors boats in distress.
That is the highest daily number of deaths since it began collating figures in 2007, and the vast majority were on the Atlantic route.