Senegalese Migration to Spain: Why Boats Are Back

Senegalese boats have been reaching Spain’s Canary Islands faster since September, pulling more attention back to migration routes and the pressure points that shape them. Spain’s Interior Ministry counted 8,970 sea arrivals in the archipelago up to 15 October, 33.5% fewer than in the same period a year earlier. Still, about 1,837 arrived in the first fortnight of October alone, based on totals from official balances. Interior had recorded 7,133 arrivals up to 30 September versus 12,848 a year earlier, a 44.5% drop. The International Organization for Migration says tighter controls in Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal have shifted departures further south, naming Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau as new starting points, potentially adding hundreds of kilometers to crossings.