Spain’s Canary Islands have set a new record for the number of irregular arrivals to the archipelago, with more than 32,000 migrants making the treacherous boat journey this year so far.
According to figures released by Spain’s Interior Ministry and local emergency services, at least 32,029 people landed on the islands from January to November this year, exceeding the previous high set during the migration crisis of 2006 when 31,678 migrants disembarked in the Canaries.
To avoid border controls along the coast, smugglers take longer journeys, navigating first west into the open Atlantic before continuing north to the Canaries - a detour that brought many to the tiny westernmost El Hierro island, at times overwhelming local authorities and emergency services.
Faced with a record number of arrivals, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska flew to the Senegalese capital of Dakar last week to press the government to do more to stop boats from leaving.
Spain has nearly 40 police and civil guard officers, four boats, a helicopter and an aircraft deployed in Senegal to monitor the coast and crack down on smuggling networks in collaboration with local authorities.
In the following years, arrivals to the Canary Islands declined and had been largely manageable until they spiked again in 2020 as a result of increased surveillance along the favoured Mediterranean Sea route, among other factors.
The original article contains 490 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Spain’s Canary Islands have set a new record for the number of irregular arrivals to the archipelago, with more than 32,000 migrants making the treacherous boat journey this year so far.
According to figures released by Spain’s Interior Ministry and local emergency services, at least 32,029 people landed on the islands from January to November this year, exceeding the previous high set during the migration crisis of 2006 when 31,678 migrants disembarked in the Canaries.
To avoid border controls along the coast, smugglers take longer journeys, navigating first west into the open Atlantic before continuing north to the Canaries - a detour that brought many to the tiny westernmost El Hierro island, at times overwhelming local authorities and emergency services.
Faced with a record number of arrivals, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska flew to the Senegalese capital of Dakar last week to press the government to do more to stop boats from leaving.
Spain has nearly 40 police and civil guard officers, four boats, a helicopter and an aircraft deployed in Senegal to monitor the coast and crack down on smuggling networks in collaboration with local authorities.
In the following years, arrivals to the Canary Islands declined and had been largely manageable until they spiked again in 2020 as a result of increased surveillance along the favoured Mediterranean Sea route, among other factors.
The original article contains 490 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!