By Omar Bah
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced plans to visit The Gambia next week, reportedly as the number of migrants reaching the Canary Islands more than doubled in the first seven months of 2024.
According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, figures have showed that 22,304 migrants reached the Atlantic archipelago in the period to August 15, a rise from 9,864 in the same period a year earlier.
The Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is due to arrive in Africa on August 27 for a three-day visit to The Gambia, Mauritania, and Senegal, whose shores have seen countless boats packed with migrants setting sail for the Spanish archipelago.
It will be Sánchez’s second visit to West Africa in six months—his last trip was in February alongside EU president Ursula von der Leyen who announced €210 million in funding for migration management as part of an enhanced cooperation programme with Nouakchott.
Since late last year, Mauritania has been the main departure point for the wooden boats reaching the Canary Islands, Spanish media reports say, in a trend that is likely to increase after the summer when the waters are calmer.
Mauritania is itself experiencing huge migratory pressure, hosting more than 150,000 displaced persons, EU figures show, with the flow of migrants into the country showing no signs of letting up.
The Atlantic route to the Spanish islands is particularly dangerous due to strong currents, with migrants travelling in overloaded, often unseaworthy, boats without enough drinking water.
But it has grown in popularity due to increased vigilance in the Mediterranean.
At their closest point, the islands lie 100 kilometres off the coast of North Africa, the shortest route running between the coastal town of Tarfaya in southern Morocco and island of Fuerteventura.
But many boats leave from much further away, setting sail from shores further south, from Western Sahara down through the coastlines of Mauritania, The Gambia and Senegal.
More than 5,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in the first five months of this year, or the equivalent of 33 deaths per day, according to Caminando Fronteras, a Spanish charity that monitors boats in distress.
