ARCHIVED - 63 per cent more illegal migrants have reached Spain so far this year

The total of 14,700 does not include 10,000 who entered Ceuta overland in a mass crossing this May

The second year of the coronavirus pandemic continues to be marked by a sharp increase in the number of unauthorized migrants reaching Spanish and EU territory from northern Africa, with the latest Ministry of the Interior data reporting a total of 14,737 between the turn of the year and July 15.

This represents an increase of 63.2 per cent over the equivalent period last year, due in no small part to the absence of the restrictions on travel which were in place in northern Africa during the first wave of coronavirus infection last spring.

In addition, the figure does not include the 10,000 or so who entered the north African enclave of Ceuta in May after bypassing the border fences via the beach and the sea. This, according to Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Minister for the Interior, is due to the fact that the data are still being analysed in an effort to reach a specific total which will later be incorporated into the data.

For this reason, the government reports that 93 per cent of all known arrivals were by sea, with over half of them (7,623) arriving in the Canary Islands after Atlantic crossings from north-west Africa. This represents an increase of over 150 per cent from the equivalent period in 2020, and follows the episode of last November when at one point there were 2,600 crammed into an area of just under 4,000 square metres at a temporary detention centre in Gran Canaria.

In relation to the Mediterranean route, heading for the Spanish mainland and the Balearics, the increase has been less spectacular but the total is still 26.4 per cent higher than at this point last year, having reached 6,115.

At the same time, those arriving by sea in Ceuta number 346 as opposed to the 66 reported in the first half of 2020, while in Melilla successful sea crossings have so far not been reported this year. 626 arrivals on land are included, but again the the Ministry data are incomplete as they do not yet include the 238 people who successfully burst over the border fences on July 22.

Image: Ministerio del Interior