Spain Reinforces Security Measures in the Canary Islands

On Friday, Spain's government announced that it would reinforce security in the Canary Islands following a surge of migrants' arrivals in recent days.

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The Ministry of Territorial Policy said that it would increase the vigilance as illegal migration has grown to 900 percent this year. The authorities report that 16.000 migrants have arrived on the islands thus far in 2020.

In October seventh and eighth alone, at least 2.300 people reached Spain's coast via the Atlantic route, which is the most common since it is estimated that about 57 percent of the journeys take place through it.

The latest data from the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrant Project, the Atlantic route, which takes eight to ten days, has become the most dangerous since it is estimated that at least one person dies every 24 hours on his way to Europe.

Moreover, the number of people missing or dead has doubled this year compared to 2019. At least 493 migrants have disappeared in 2020 thus far, while 210 lost their lives in the previous 12 months.

In this sense, Minister Carolina Darias emphasized that "the main objective of this government, and any government, is to avoid anybody risking their life getting aboard one of these boats."

Spain's government also said that it would provide $590 million for cooperation with governments and security forces from Morocco, Senegal, and Mauritania, to prevent smugglers from carrying out massive departures.