More than 4,200 migrants arrive in the Canaries in five days
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Seneweb
More than 4,200 migrants were rescued and brought ashore in the Canaries between 2 and 6 November, including 935 on El Hierro and 1,021 in one night. The surge marks a sharp revival of the Atlantic route after several months of calm, according to InfoMigrants citing EFE and Spanish authorities.
More than 4,200 migrants were rescued off the Canaries and brought ashore in the Spanish archipelago between 2 and 6 November, as many as during the whole of the first half of the year, according to information reported by InfoMigrants. The single night from Thursday to Friday saw 1,021 people brought ashore after being rescued by Salvamento Marítimo, Spain’s rescue services.
On El Hierro, a small island with 11,500 inhabitants, 935 people were rescued in five operations, and one of them was found dead aboard a boat. A vessel also arrived in Gran Canaria and two canoes carrying 88 people landed in Lanzarote. The Canaries government puts the number of migrants arriving between 1 and 6 November at 4,587 aboard 49 vessels, including 35 on El Hierro, where the pressure is described as “extraordinary” and where authorities are considering declaring a migration emergency.
The surge ends several months of calm: from 1 January to 30 September, arrivals had fallen by 44% compared with the same period in 2025, before more than 6,000 people reached the archipelago in October alone, according to Spanish Interior Ministry data relayed by InfoMigrants. Most vessels depart from the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania, on a crossing lasting several days and considered among the world’s most dangerous.
It comes after an already deadly week on the Atlantic route, with seven deaths and the arrival of two canoes from Senegal carrying 197 people.
