One migrant has died, and six others were taken to the hospital with severe symptoms of hypothermia following the rescue of a boat carrying 143 people off the Canary Islands.
One person was recovered dead and six were transferred to the hospital with serious hypothermia symptoms during the rescue of a boat with 143 migrants on board, intercepted on January 6 off the coast of the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
According to emergency services, the vessel, located by Maritime Rescue units 26 kilometers off La Gomera, the smallest and most remote island in the archipelago, was carrying 143 people of sub-Saharan origin, including at least 72 adolescents aged between 16 and 17, and eight women.
Sub-Saharan migrants rescued, three minors hospitalized
Rescued by Maritime Rescue and the Civil Guard, the migrants were disembarked at the port of San Sebastián de La Gomera, where they were assisted by Red Cross volunteers. Among the six migrants taken to the hospital with severe hypothermia were three minors.
According to the latest figures from the Interior Ministry, irregular migrant arrivals in Spain fell by 40 percent in 2025, the lowest level since 2019, mainly due to a sharp decline along the Canary Islands route (-60 percent), following cooperation agreements with African countries such as Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania.
As of December 15, a total of 35,935 migrants had reached Spain's coasts by sea, with an increase in flows toward Ceuta and Melilla and along the Algerian route to the Balearic Islands.
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New arrivals in Ceuta despite the border fence and adverse weather
On January 5, more than 20 sub-Saharan migrants managed to enter Ceuta by scaling the double fence separating the Spanish enclave from Morocco or, in some cases, by swimming, despite adverse weather conditions. Some migrants reached the autonomous city by climbing the border barrier near the midpoint of the 8.2-kilometer perimeter fence, police said.
Others arrived by sea over the weekend, while Ceuta was under a yellow weather alert for heavy rainfall, which further complicated border surveillance. The sub-Saharan migrants, mainly from Sudan, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, were assisted by Red Cross volunteers and transferred to the local temporary reception center.
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