Spain's Canary Islands record highest single-day migrant arrivals in 32 years

详细摘要

MADRID: At least 1,580 migrants arrived in Spain s Canary Islands on Saturday via the Atlantic migration route, marking the highest single day total ...

MADRID: At least 1,580 migrants arrived in Spain's Canary Islands on Saturday via the Atlantic migration route, marking the highest single-day total in the route's 32-year history, reported Spanish news agency EFE.

The figure surpasses the previous single-day record of 1,461 rescues, set on Nov. 7, 2020. More than 2,400 migrants reached the archipelago on Friday and Saturday combined, according to EFE.

The majority of the migrants arrived on the island of El Hierro, where 1,327 people disembarked. The largest group comprised 240 migrants aboard a single vessel that had departed from Gunjur, in The Gambia, six days earlier.

Another boat carrying 203 people arrived on Gran Canaria, with 17 passengers requiring hospital treatment, while a further 50 people landed on Tenerife, where one person was also taken to hospital.

Provisional figures showed that at least 120 women and 173 minors were among Saturday's arrivals. Migrants reaching El Hierro had spent between four and seven days at sea, with boats departing from Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania.

Six vessels from Spain's maritime rescue service, Salvamento Maritimo, and two Civil Guard patrol boats took part in Saturday's rescue operations.

According to official figures from Spain's Ministry of the Interior, 13,327 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands by sea between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, 2026, a 5.5 percent decrease compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the migrant rights organization Walking Borders (Caminando Fronteras) reported that at least 635 people died attempting the Atlantic crossing to the Canary Islands during the first five months of the year.

The organization estimated that approximately 21 people died for every 100 migrants who successfully reached the islands during that period.

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