Formentera gets 2,700 boat arrivals as PP demands action

At the boat graveyard in es Cap, Formentera, the PP says 2,700 people have reached the island in small boats this year. On 25 September, the party called for Security Secretary of State Aina Calvo to answer questions before the Joint Commission on Island Affairs. It wants her to set out what is being done against people-smuggling networks and irregular arrivals on Balearic coasts.

The PP said the situation has worsened while the National Police and Guardia Civil lack officers and resources. José Vicente Marí, the party’s member of Congress, also pointed to reports which, he said, warned of a high risk of increasing irregular migration to the Balearics.

Pressure on Formentera’s services

Senator Miquel Jerez said the island of 12,000 people had received 2,700 people in small boats — known in Spanish as pateras — during 2026. Some arrivals come in groups of hundreds within 24 or 48 hours, he said.

Jerez said island councils and town halls were being left to deal with the impact of a policy he argued should be handled by the state. More than 250 minors are currently in care on Formentera, he said, with accommodation capacity already exceeded and a direct economic impact on the island.

Deaths on the Algerian route

Marí contrasted 250 irregular arrivals in 2018 with 8,000 across 2025 and 2026. He also cited Caminando Fronteras, which recorded 507 deaths on the Algerian route in the western Mediterranean during the first five months of 2026 — 54 per cent more than in the same period of 2025.

Hugo Martínez, the PP’s leader on Formentera, called for resources to handle people on arrival and for a firm foreign policy. He accused government delegate Alfonso Rodríguez and island director Raquel Guasch of failing to provide help even with basic tasks.

Topics: Police · Migration · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com