Spain is strengthening migration cooperation with Morocco and Mauritania as irregular migrant arrivals increase once again in the Canary Islands and Ceuta. More than 6,000 migrants reached the Canary Islands in October alone and more than 13,000 have arrived since the beginning of the year.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is facing renewed pressure from within his own government, opposition parties and other European countries to place more controls on irregular migration from North Africa. Irregular arrivals to the Canary Islands increased sharply in October and the mass crossings into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta this summer exposed tensions along its southern border with Morocco.
With upcoming national elections at the end of November, Sanchez’s government faces growing pressure to demonstrate control over its territories in northern Africa and the migration routes from there towards Europe, while deepening relations with Morocco and Mauritania over migration management.
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Morocco blocks over 58,000 migration attempts
For its part, Morocco said its security services thwarted 58,153 irregular migration attempts between January and the end of August 2026, according to figures released by its Interior Ministry, local media reported. Authorities also dismantled 148 migrant smuggling networks and rescued 8,288 migrants during the period. The figures follow mass crossings into Ceuta in late July, when tens of thousands attempted to reach the Spanish enclave. Most of those who crossed reportedly returned voluntarily or were deported, but thousands remained into October, as the Spanish authorities struggled to deal with all those who had arrived.
Moroccan authorities blamed part of the mass mobilization of migrants on misleading information circulated via social media, which purported to offer opportunities to enter Spanish territory.
Despite close security cooperation with Spain, Morocco's King Mohammed VI said in October that the existing model of migration cooperation with Spain had reached its limits and is outdated.
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Spain seeks to deepen migration management cooperation with Mauritania
Meanwhile, Spain is seeking to strengthen its partnership with Mauritania to prevent departures across the Atlantic towards the Canary Islands. During a visit to the capital Nouakchott on Tuesday (November 3), Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska Gomez lauded Mauritania's efforts to combat irregular migration and called for broader bilateral cooperation, according to the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). He described relations between the countries as "exceptional" and called for cooperation to extend beyond security into economic and social affairs.
Spanish Guardia Civil officers are already deployed in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, assisting with maritime surveillance, rescue operations and training for Mauritanian security forces. The partnership builds on a 210 million euros agreement between Mauritania and the European Union signed in 2024.
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The Atlantic route
The Atlantic route from the west coasts of Africa towards the Spanish Canary Islands archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean remains particularly dangerous. According to data from Spain's Interior Ministry, reported by Teneriffa News, 6,194 migrants reached the Canary Islands in October aboard 65 boats, making it the busiest October since 2023. Across Spain, irregular arrivals reached 32,942 between January and October, an increase of 8.9 percent compared with the same period in 2025.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 3,708 migrants reached the Canary Islands via the West African Atlantic route during the first half of 2026, a 67 percent decrease compared with the same period in 2025. However, 168 people died or went missing during attempted crossings in those six months, with 59 boats failing to reach the islands. The number of dead and missing on this route is an estimate and the actual number of deaths is likely to be much greater, since many set off without being registered or noticed by any authority.
Migrants who travel this route regularly report 'ghost ships' and incidences of having to throw bodies of those who died overboard en route, meaning the actual number of deaths on board the boat if they are rescued or arrived is far fewer than those who probably ended up perishing during the journey.
Migrant sea rescues continue off the coast of Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Buissau. In one incident, on September 27, the Mauritanian coast guard rescued 260 migrants, including 17 children, from two boats off Nouakchott, according to the Mauritanian Fisheries Ministry. Earlier this week, the Mauritanian authorities reported they rescued 130 migrants off the coast of Mauritania, including 118 men, 14 women and two children of different nationalities.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, told InfoMigrants that refugees and asylum seekers in Mauritania, particularly in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou, have faced increasingly strict immigration enforcement since late 2024, including arrests, detention and deportations.
The UNHCR warned that these measures raise serious protection concerns, particularly regarding access to asylum procedures and the risk of refoulement, or the forced return of individuals to countries where they may face persecution. UNHCR said it continues to engage with Mauritanian authorities to ensure compliance with international refugee and human rights law, while intervening in individual cases where protection concerns arise.