Record number of migrants bound for Spain ‘lost at sea’

At least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) said on Thursday, more than 50% more than last year and the most since it began keeping a tally in 2007.
The 58% increase includes 1,538 children and 421 women, migrant rights group Caminando Fronteras (“Walking Borders”) said in a report that covers the period from January 1 to December 5, 2024.
It amounts to an average of 30 deaths per day, up from around 18 in 2023.
The group compiles its data from hotlines set up for migrants on vessels in trouble to call for help, families of migrants who went missing, and official rescue statistics.
It blamed the use of flimsy boats and increasingly dangerous routes as well as a lack of resources for rescues for the surge in deaths.
“These figures are evidence of a profound failure of rescue and protection systems. More than 10,400 people dead or missing in a single year is an unacceptable tragedy,” the group’s founder, Helena Maleno, said in a statement.
The victims were from 28 nations, mostly in Africa, but also from Iraq and Pakistan.
Most of the fatalities – 9,757 – took place on the Atlantic migration route from Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, which has received a record number of migrants for the second year in a row.
Seven migrant boats landed in the archipelago on Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service posted on X.
At their closest point, the Canaries lie 100km (60 miles) off the coast of North Africa.
The shortest route is between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and the Canary island of Fuerteventura.
The Atlantic route is particularly deadly, with many of the crowded, poorly equipped boats unable to cope with the ocean currents.
Some boats depart African beaches as far as 1,000km (620 miles) from the Canaries.
To avoid controls, smugglers sometimes take longer, more dangerous journeys, navigating west into the open Atlantic before turning north to the Canaries.
That detour brings many to the tiny westernmost island of El Hierro, which since last year has experienced an unprecedented surge in arrivals.
The regional government of the Canaries says that it is overwhelmed, and in October thousands of people took part in rallies in the archipelago to demand action to curb the surge in arrivals.
During his Christmas Eve broadcast, Spain’s King Felipe VI warned that “without proper management” of migration, “it can lead to tensions that erode social cohesion”.
“How we are able to deal with immigration – which also requires good co-ordination with our European partners, as well as with the countries of origin and transit – will say a lot in the future about our principles and the quality of our democracy,” he said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez went on a tour of West African countries in August to try to boost local efforts to curb illegal migration from Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia, the main departure points for migrant boats headed to the Canary Islands.
Along with Italy and Greece, Spain is one of the three major European gateways for migrant arrivals.
According to the interior ministry, 60,216 migrants entered Spain irregularly between January 1 and December 15, a 14.5% increase from the period last year.
The majority, over 70%, landed in the Canaries.
The International Organisation for Migration, a United Nations agency, estimates that since 2014, more than 16,400 migrants have died trying to reach Europe from Africa, a figure that includes those headed to the Canary Islands.