Nearly 100 migrants are feared dead after a week of tragedies on routes to Spain, including fatal incidents in Ceuta and off Mallorca. The Algeria-Balearic route has emerged as one of the fastest-growing migration pathways this year, according to Frontex, as the islands’ regional president described the crisis as "one of the toughest days in the humanitarian tragedy that the Balearic Islands are experiencing."
Nearly 100 migrants are feared dead after a series of tragedies involving attempted journeys to Spain, with deadly incidents reported this week in both the North African enclave of Ceuta and the Balearic Islands.
An estimated 75 to 88 migrants died this week while attempting to reach Ceuta, with most of them losing their lives at sea. Now, 17 migrants are feared dead after a boat carrying North African migrants spent two weeks drifting in the Mediterranean, before two survivors were rescued near Spain’s Balearic Islands, authorities announced on Tuesday (August 4). The Balearic Islands are a Spanish archipelago made up of the popular tourist destinations of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera.
The two men, who were picked up about 13 nautical miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Mallorca, told rescuers that they had been at sea for 15 days and that 17 other people who had traveled with them had died during the journey. Nineteen people were believed to have been aboard the vessel when it departed, according to the survivors' account.
The two rescued migrants displayed signs of severe dehydration and malnutrition and were taken to hospital, according to the Spanish government’s representative office in the Balearic Islands.
Authorities said they had not independently confirmed the reported deaths. A spokesperson for the government representative’s office announced that "There is no other record of these other people, other than the testimony of the occupants."
A search operation was launched after the rescue, with Spain’s maritime emergency services sending a helicopter to the area and issuing warnings to nearby vessels to assist in locating possible survivors or victims.
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Bodies found off small uninhabited island
The same day, another migrant boat was found near Mallorca in a separate tragedy. Seventeen people were rescued alive, while two bodies were recovered from the water.
Officials believe the vessel may have been carrying around 30 people, and searches continued for those still missing. It was not immediately clear whether the two bodies recovered were connected to the first boat.
Spain's Civil Guard said the bodies were discovered approximately eight nautical miles southwest of Cabrera, a small uninhabited island near Mallorca.
Regional President Marga Prohens described the events as a devastating moment for the archipelago.
"Without a doubt, it is one of the toughest days in the humanitarian tragedy that the Balearic Islands are experiencing," she wrote on X.
She later called for greater support from Spain’s central government.
"The images and the numbers leave no one unmoved and confirm that the islands cannot go on facing this emergency alone," she said. Prohens urged authorities to develop a "specific plan to address the migration emergency facing the Balearic Islands."
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Algeria-Balearic Islands route sees growth in irregular crossings
The tragedies come as the sea route from Algeria to the Balearic Islands emerges as an increasingly important migration pathway into the European Union, amid strengthened border controls and maritime surveillance cooperation between the EU and countries including Libya, Tunisia and Morocco.
Though overall irregular arrivals to the EU have dropped, the route has recorded some of the fastest growth this year, according to Frontex, the EU border agency.
Frontex has also previously said migrant smuggling networks have increasingly moved operations to Algeria, citing perceptions of fewer restrictions and the use of faster vessels.
Spain’s Interior Ministry recorded 3,864 irregular migrant arrivals to the Balearic Islands between January 1 and July 31, a 10 percent rise compared with the same period last year.
The Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands remains Spain's busiest maritime migration route, but authorities have reported a growing number of migrants attempting the shorter Mediterranean journey from Algeria to the Balearics. Spain has also expanded cooperation with Algerian authorities to try and manage migration.
With AFP and Reuters