The Mediterranean route is now the main gateway for irregular immigration by sea in Spain, overturning the situation in the Canary Islands and reflecting the growing increase in the Algerian route. Until August 15, the peninsular coasts had recorded 5,152 arrivals by sea, compared to 4,808 registered in the Canary Islands. That is 344 more people, when just a year ago the situation was radically different: the Canary archipelago accumulated 11,883 arrivals compared to 3,928 on the Peninsula, according to the official statistics of the Ministry of the Interior.
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The change is even more evident if arrivals to the Peninsula and Balearic Islands are grouped together. This group already totals 9,585 migrants, 1,334 more than a year ago. In contrast, the Canary Islands accumulate 4,808. That is, the peninsular and Balearic coasts receive practically double the number of migrants by sea than the Canary Islands. As for the Balearic archipelago, it had received 4,433 migrants by August 15, an increase of 2.5% compared to the previous year.
The change is mainly explained by the collapse of the Canary route. In just one year, the number of migrants arriving in the Canary Islands has decreased by 7,075 people, a 59.5% drop. The number of boats has also fallen, from 196 to 64, a decrease of 67.3%. At the same time, the route to the Peninsula has followed the opposite process. Arrivals have increased by 1,224 people, from 3,928 in 2025 to 5,152 this year, representing an increase of 31.2%.
The overall decline in the Canary Islands explains the general drop in migrants arriving by sea in Spain. Between January 1 and August 15, 14,411 people arrived by sea, compared to 20,152 in the same period in 2025. That is 5,741 fewer, a decrease of 28.5%.
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The nearly 60% collapse in arrivals to the Canary Islands explains this change
The Ministry’s figures point to a change in routes with a significant increase in arrivals from Algeria. Precisely last August, the National Police and the Civil Guard dismantled a criminal organization of Algerian origin that had turned drug and migrant trafficking in the Mediterranean into a multimillion-euro business between Algeria and Spain. The network, with branches in several European countries and presence in several communities, allegedly introduced more than 2,000 migrants into Spain in at least 64 operations and obtained profits exceeding 24 million euros.
The organization operates in Andalusia, Murcia, Valencian Community, and the Balearic Islands, the area where the arrival of small boats has increased the most, and also had operational connections in France, Portugal, Italy, and Poland. They used high-speed boats to transport migrants to Spain and, on the return trip, went back to Algeria with synthetic drugs, such as MDMA. According to police reports, the mafia could charge up to 12,000 euros for each person transported.
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