Spain is stoking Europe’s migrant crisis

The new year in Spain began much as the old one ended, with a huge influx of illegal immigrants arriving on its shores. Nearly 800 people from North and Sub-Saharan Africa landed on the Canary Islands between 6 and 8 January.

That fleet of ten boats are an ominous sign of what Europe can expect in 2025. Spain has become the people smugglers’ route of choice: last year they ferried 63,970 migrants into Spanish territory, an increase of 12.5 per cent on 2023. Of that number, more than 43,000 men, women and children landed in the Canaries.

The islands are overwhelmed, no longer able to cope with the massive influx. Last week, Spain’s Minister for Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, declared that a ‘humanitarian response for minors is urgent’.

One policy has been the mandatory redistribution of minors elsewhere in Spain. Last week, however, the Balearic Islands – of which Majorca is the principal – announced that they will participate no longer in the scheme.