MADRID – Spain is releasing new figures on the number of immigrants who have reached the country in 2023. For the first time since 2018, the limit of 51,000 irregular arrivals by boat has been exceeded.
The number of immigrants reaching Spain this year has increased. This is evident from the fortnightly report of the Ministry of the Interior, which was published on Monday, December 18. The publication shows that the majority of immigrants arrive in the Canary Islands. Moreover, the number of unaccompanied minor refugees has grown enormously.
From January 1 to December 15, 51,739 immigrants arrived on Spanish coasts in 1,684 boats. Most boat people arrived in the Canary Islands (72%). Expressed in numbers, this concerns 37,187 immigrants in 561 boats. This amounts to an increase of 140.4% compared to the same period in 2022.
More than fifty thousand arrivals in 2023
It is the first time since 2018 that the limit of 50,000 immigrants has been exceeded. That year, 57,498 people crossed the sea to Spain. Most people arrive via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea (the western part of the Mediterranean Sea). In 2019, 26,168 people arrived; in 2020 it was 40,106; in 2021 it was 40,100; and in 2022, 28,930 people disembarked on Spanish coasts.
Migrant arrivals in Spain increased by 76.2 percent
The total number of foreign arrivals in Spain, both by land and sea, has increased by 76.2% compared to the same period last year. Up to December 15, 52,945 people have entered. Last year that was 30,048 in the same period.
This year, 14,312 people arrived on the mainland and the Balearic Islands via other sea routes, 2,263 more than in 2022.
Ceuta and Melilla
In the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in Morocco, 60 arrivals by sea were counted. Last year there were 124. The other enclave, Melilla, had 180 arrivals this year, an increase of 17.6% compared to last year.
However, the number of immigrants jumping the border fence and illegally entering Ceuta and Melilla has fallen by 46.5%. This is mainly due to a decline in Melilla. Last year, massive groups of immigrants jumped over the fence several times.
This autonomous city has seen 161 foreign arrivals up to December 15, compared to last year’s 1,174 (a decrease of 86.3%). In Ceuta the number decreased by 3.4%, from 1,082 to 1,045.
Minor single immigrants
EFE reports in a publication this week that the number of registered unaccompanied minor immigrants has increased in eight years. Spain has an increase of 221.4%. In the Canary Islands, the number of registrations has skyrocketed by more than 3,000%.
Also read: Spanish southern border is ‘zone of violation of migrant rights’
