Nearly 1 500 migrants reached Spain’s Canary Islands on Saturday, the highest single-day total since 2020, according to Reuters.
Drawing on figures from the Spanish maritime rescue service and the EFE news agency, Reuters said the coastguard picked up 1 488 people across 14 boats. The arrivals extend a sharp rise in crossings from West Africa since October, eclipsing the previous one-day record of 1 461 people rescued off the islands on November 7, 2020.
One boat alone carried 240 people, including 12 women and 36 children. Most of those rescued were taken ashore on El Hierro, one of the smallest and most sparsely populated islands in the archipelago.
Overall migrant numbers for the year remain lower than during the same stretch in 2025, but the sudden surge over the past month has put heavy pressure on local emergency teams and reception centres across the smaller islands.
–Reuters/ChannelAfrica/Imagecredits:Reuters–
