More than 10,000 migrants died this year trying to reach Spain by sea: Report – National

More than 10,000 migrants have died trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report issued by a Spanish migration rights group said on Thursday.

On average, this year means that 30 migrants died every day trying to reach the country by boat, said Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders). Overall deaths rose 58 percent compared to last year, the report added.

Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago near the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe.

Caminando Fronteras said that most of the 10,457 deaths registered until December 15 took place along that crossing, the so-called Atlantic route – considered one of the most dangerous in the world.

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The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said.

Caminando Fronteras also noted a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats leaving Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point on the route to the Canary Islands.

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In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros (about US$218 million) in aid to Mauritania to help it beat human smugglers and prevent boats from boarding.

The Spanish Interior Ministry says more than 57,700 migrants reached Spain by boat until December 15 this year, an increase of about 12 percent from the same period last year. The vast majority of them came via the Atlantic route.