Three immigrants were found dead on a boat off the coast of southern Spain, and twenty-nine were rescued, the Spanish coast guard announced on Sunday, October 13, a few days after a shipwreck that left more than fifty dead or missing. The inflatable boat was off the coast of Almería, Andalusia, where the “twenty-nine North African men” rescued, and the bodies of the deceased, a maritime rescue spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
Two weeks ago, a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands. 27 people were rescued and nine bodies were found, but as the ship was probably carrying around 90 people, the number of missing and dead is presumed to be over fifty. This is the highest number of deaths off the coast of the Canary Islands in three decades of migration from Africa.
This tragedy highlights the sharp increase in immigrant arrivals to Spain by sea: there were 40,076 between January and September, 56% more than during the same period in 2023 (25,640), according to the Ministry of the Interior. Three-quarters arrived across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands, a particularly dangerous route due to the strong currents, added to the unsuitability of the vessels used for the high seas.
During the first five months of 2024, more than 5,000 migrants died trying to reach Spain by sea, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, which evaluates the number of victims based on the testimonies of survivors.
