Teams of fire fighters from the Balearic Institute of Nature (Ibanat) had to intervene at midday to put out a fire on a skiff carrying illegal immigrants in Formentera, according to the Department of Natural Environment on the social network X. Emergency servivce SAMU 061 reported that the fire broke out at sea, but all the occupants were able to safely reach land by their own means.
The government delegation today reported the arrival of another 39 migrants in Formentera, 25 of them intercepted 30 miles from the island and the remaining 14 on land, in the area of S’Estufador.
A total of 514 migrants have arrived irregularly in Spain since Friday, of which 340 have arrived in the Canary Islands and another 174 on the mainland and the Balearics.
137 migrants have arrived in the Balearics since Friday. At 18:42 hours on Saturday, 28 Maghrebi migrants were rescued south of the island of Formentera, all of them in apparent good health. On Sunday, two boats were located to the west of the island of Conejera and half a mile from the port of Cala d’Or, while another reached Formentera and another reached S’Estanyol (Llucmajor, Mallorca). Finally, on Monday, a total of 39 people were intercepted in Formentera: 25 of them were rescued at 06:00 and 14 at 07:30.
Likewise, two Maghrebi men on a jet ski were rescued on Sunday night after being located by a merchant vessel 32 miles southeast (SSE) of Malaga. At around 22:06 on Sunday, the merchant ship Grande Texas reported to the Maritime Rescue Centre in Tarifa the location of a drifting jet ski, with two people, apparently in good health. According to the latest balance sheet of the Ministry of the Interior, so far this year, up to 15 August, a total of 31,155 migrants have arrived in Spain irregularly, 12,410 more people (i.e. 66.2%) than in the same period in 2023 (18,745). 29,512 migrants arrived in Spain by sea, 63.3% more than in the same period in 2023 (18,069). They have done so via 908 vessels, 61 more than the previous year (847).
Of the total number of migrants who have arrived by sea, 22,304 have entered the Canary Islands, 126.1% more (12,440) than in the same period of the previous year, when 9,864 arrived. These have arrived on board 340 vessels, 80.9% more than in 2023, when 188 arrived.