MADRID: The number of migrants arriving illegally in Spain soared by over 80 per cent in 2023, with a record number landing in the Canary Islands, official figures showed on Wednesday.

The influx has strained resources in the seven-island Atlantic archipelago and pushed migration to the top of the political agenda in Spain, which along with Italy and Greece is a key entry point for migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

A total of 56,852 migrants entered Spain illegally last year, a 82.1pc jump from 2022 and the most since 2018 when 64,298 migrants entered the country, according to provisional interior ministry figures.

The bulk of them, 39,910, arrived by boat in the Canaries after making the perilous crossing from Africa, an increase of 154.5pc over last year and surpassing the record number set in 2006.

With controls tightening in the Mediterranean, the Canaries route has become a favourite for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa, mostly on overcrowded, barely seaworthy vessels. Boats depart from Morocco, as well as Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal further south. The journey from Senegal to the Canaries usually takes a week of difficult upwind sailing of around 1,600 kilometres.

To avoid controls, smugglers take longer more dangerous journeys, navigating west into the open Atlantic before turning north to the Canaries — a detour that brings many to the tiny westernmost El Hierro island.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024