Migrants wait to disembark from a fiber boat after being rescued by a Spanish Coast Guard vessel at the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria, Spain, on February 3, 2024.Borja Suarez/Reuters
MADRID (AP) – More than 1,000 migrants from sub-Saharan countries have arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in 18 boats over the past three days, Spain’s marine rescue services said Monday. A body was found in one of the boats.
The archipelago off northwestern Africa has seen a surge in migrant arrivals in recent weeks as more people attempt the perilous journey from West Africa. Officials said 7,270 migrants arrived in January, about the same number as in the first six months of 2023.
Most boats depart from Mauritania. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit the West African country on Thursday to urge authorities to try to curb departures.
read more: EU officials have welcomed the conclusion of a major migration deal after years of stalled negotiations.But critics are concerned about asylum seekers’ rights.
Spain and the European Union have cooperation agreements with both Mauritania and neighboring Senegal to try to reduce the number of migrants arriving on the island. However, some young people insist on taking a chance, arguing that there are few opportunities and that there may be political turmoil in the country.
Spain’s interior ministry said a record 55,618 migrants arrived by boat last year, almost twice as many as the previous year, mostly in the Canary Islands.
The Spanish nonprofit group Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said more than 6,600 migrants died last year trying to reach Spain by boat, most of them on the Atlantic route. This number is more than double the 2022 figure reported by the organization.
Caminando Fronteras said it compiles its own numbers from migrant families and rescue statistics.
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Migrants wait to disembark from a fiber boat after being rescued by a Spanish Coast Guard vessel at the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria, Spain, on February 3, 2024.Borja Suarez/Reuters