Balearic Islands migrant boat arrivals rise by 2.5%

Irregular migrant arrivals by boat to the Balearic Islands, Spain, rose by 2.5% in the first seven and a half months of 2026, according to the latest fortnightly report from Spain’s Ministry of the Interior. By 15 August, 4,433 people had reached the archipelago aboard 236 boats.

The equivalent figure for the same period in 2025 was 4,323 people in 230 vessels.

Changes on Spain’s sea routes

Arrivals by sea to mainland Spain increased by 31.1% to 5,152 people. Taken together, the mainland and Balearic routes recorded 9,585 arrivals, up 16.2% year on year, while the number of boats used fell by 0.9% to 531.

In the Canary Islands, sea arrivals dropped by 59.5% to 4,808 people travelling in 64 boats.

Spain-wide figures

Spain recorded 19,972 irregular entries by land and sea between 1 January and 15 August 2026, a decrease of 9.4% from the same period in 2025.

Sea arrivals nationwide totalled 14,411, down 28.5% year on year. The number of vessels fell to 599, 138 fewer than a year earlier.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com