MADRID, 15 Aug. Spanish rescue services found a small boat carrying between 150 and 170 migrants near the Canary Islands, the kingdom's maritime rescuers said on Thursday.
“»The ship (rescue — ed.) informed the center in Tenerife about the discovery of a boat near (the settlement — ed.) Las Galletas. The ship «Alferaz» was mobilized, which examined the boat and reported that there could be 150 -170 people are in good condition,” says a message published on the service’s page on the social network X.
After receiving the message, the rescue ship escorted the boat to the port of Los Cristianos, where the final count of illegal migrants is to be carried out.
Large groups of illegal immigrants regularly attempt to cross both the southern and island borders of Spain. Thus, in the first six months of 2024, 21,470 migrants arrived in the Qatar archipelago, while in 2023 this figure was 8,508 people. In total, more than 29 thousand illegal immigrants arrived in Spain in 2024, which is 79.5% more than a year earlier.
Migrant rights group Caminando Fronteras previously reported that more than 5,000 migrants trying to reach Spain died in the first five months of 2024, equating to an average of 33 deaths every day. The vast majority of migrants headed to Spain along the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. Among them, 4,800 people died.