Record number of migrants arrived in Canary Islands in 2024

A record 46,843 undocumented migrants arrived in Spain's Canary Islands last year, according to the Spanish Interior ministry. The increase in migration to the Canary Islands goes against the European trend.

The number of unauthorised crossings at the EU's external borders fell by 40 per cent in the first 11 months of last year, according to the European border agency Frontex. Significantly fewer migrants are making their way to Europe via the Western Balkans and the central Mediterranean.

Observers suggest that stricter measures in these areas are partly to blame. As a result, migrants are now using other routes, such as through West Africa. Experts call this the waterbed effect: a decrease in one area leads to an increase elsewhere. This may partly explain the increase in the number of migrants in the Canary Islands.

Fatal route

In 2023, 39,910 people arrived in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Morocco and Western Sahara, which was also a record at the time. As more boats attempt the crossing to the archipelago, more people are dying on the way.

More than 10,000 people died or went missing last year

According to the Spanish human rights organisation Caminando Fronteras, more than 10,000 people died or went missing last year. This is the highest number since the organisation started counting in 2007.

^{A boat carrying migrants after being rescued at sea in the port of La Restinga on the Canary Island of El Hierro, 28 November 2024 © PHOTO ANTONIO SEMPERE / AFP}