An unusually large number of migrants have arrived in Spain’s Balearic Islands in the last two days. As authorities announced, 19 boats carrying around 360 people reached the archipelago, which includes Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera and Menorca. The head of the regional government, Marga Prohens, then asked the Spanish government to better protect the border.
By 2025, more migrants will come to the European Union via the western Mediterranean. This route mostly departs from Algeria to Spain and, according to data from the European Union border protection agency Frontex, is the fastest growing migration route to the European Union. The number of arrivals via this route increased by 27 percent year-on-year from January to October. On the other hand, the number of arrivals in the EU fell by 22 percent.
Migration via the route to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic has declined sharply. This explains that the number of migrants arriving in Spain in October decreased by 36 percent compared to the previous year. In Balearic Islands In contrast, tourist arrivals increased by 66 percent to 6,280 people in the same period.
Smugglers move from Morocco to Algeria
According to Frontex spokesman Chris Borowski, smugglers are using faster ships and increasingly moving their activities from Morocco to Algeria because controls there are considered less stringent. The Balearic Islands close to Algeria were their main target.
Relations between Spain and Algeria have been tense since 2022. At that time, the Spanish government took Morocco’s position in the Western Sahara dispute, which angered the Algerian government. Since then, Algeria has granted fewer and fewer exceptions Spanish deporting migrants back, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry.
