Nearly 100 illegal migrans landed on the shores of the Balearics in Spain in just 24 hours. This comes after the news that over 3,200 migrants arrived in around 170 small boats since the start of the year.
The Guardia Civil, the Formentera Fire Brigade and the Red Cross intercepted 32 subn-Saharans at 9.10am on July 17, off the coast of Cabrera, according to the Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands.
At 1.40pm, six north Africans were assisted to shore. At 5.10pm, a further 30 sub-Saharans were rescued by the Maritime Rescue Service. And just after midnight on July 18, 27 Africans were intercepted.
According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior and the Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands, more than 3,200 migrants have arrived in the Balearics so far this year on 170 small boats.
This comes after at least 12 people travelling in a small boat from Algeria to Spain went missing on June 29, according to the NGO Alarm Phone. There has been no news from them since, leaving family worried they died on the journey.
According to the UN Migration Agency IOM’s Missing Migrants page, more than 35,000 people have died or gone missing on various Mediterranean routes towards Europe since 2014.
Many more may actually have died while crossing, but since there is no official register of departures, reports are reliant on either finding a boat and bodies, or on witness testimony or relatives.
Since the start of the year, at least 225 people have been recorded as dead or missing on the Western Mediterranean route. Across the whole of the Mediterranean, that number increases to at least 1,410.
In 2025, 3,090 people died trying to reach Spain, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras. In 2024, more than 10,000 were recorded to have died.