Emergency services reported that they had located 50 illegal immigrants who were heading to the Balearics in "small boats" from North Africa on Monday. So far this year an estimated 3,200 illegal immigrants have head to our shores from North Africa.
The problem is so pronounced that the Spanish government has announced plans to set-up an illegal immigrants office at Palma docks to process the illegal arrivals. Opposition groups have called for more patrols and greater vigilance by police and emergency services.
“Migration flows are changing and dynamic, and it is true that we are seeing an upturn in arrivals in the Balearics from north Africa; the data speaks for itself,” said a government spokesperson. So far this year 3,280 immigrants have arrived in the archipelago.
According to the government this represents an increase of almost 170% compared to the same period last year.
"This migratory flow to the Balearic Islands has been increasing for years, just as it increased years ago in the Spanish Levante region and in recent years in the Canary Islands. The migratory route in the southern Mediterranean is constant. To deny this reality is to deny the obvious, and it is absurd."