The Spanish Government delegate in the Balearics, Alfonso Rodríguez Badal, confirmed on Wednesday that the central government is increasing the resources for first aid to migrants who arrive irregularly on the islands’ coasts. Rodríguez Badal held a meeting with the heads of the National Police, Guard Civil, Maritime Authority and Maritime Rescue, who carry out emergency and rescue operations when migrants arrive in small boats, and also met with representatives of the Red Cross, the organisation contracted by the Spanish Government to provide first aid to these people.
The aim of these meetings, which are part of the regular working meetings held with these bodies, is to take stock of the latest migratory episode recorded in the region during August and to coordinate the implementation, as of this Wednesday, of new resources to assist migrants during their transit to the mainland, so that they can join the humanitarian assistance network.
The delegate has conveyed to the heads of the institutions and entities participating in the emergency protocol his appreciation for the intense and continuous work carried out by the personnel in response to the peak in irregular migration by sea to the Balearics. Since 1 August, 1,243 people have arrived in the Balearics by small boats. The growing presence of vulnerable profiles among these migrants, which has been observed during 2025, has made it necessary to resize the resources for first aid and assistance, especially those intended for people in transit to the mainland to go to the reception centres assigned to them in each case.
In response to the intensification of the flow of arrivals, at the end of July, an agreement was reached with the Balearic Port Authority to temporarily open its maritime ferry stations in Mallorca and Ibiza at night, as well as a space in Formentera, to provide shelter for migrants in transit who have to spend the night on the islands, while waiting for the Ministry of Migration to complete the installation of modular spaces that will provide this service on a permanent basis.
Within the framework of the declaration of this migration emergency, a 24-hour maintenance, cleaning and security service is being provided through Tragsa. In addition, the volume of resources provided through the Red Cross has been increased to ensure that these people receive water and food while waiting at the port terminals, in order to adapt to the higher number of arrivals recorded in recent weeks. From this Wednesday, three meals a day will be provided to migrants who have to spend more than one night at one of the maritime stations. In general, with the exception of minors who are taken into the care of the islands, most of those who arrive in the Balearics by boat leave the islands within 24 hours.
The Government delegate in the Balearics also highlighted and thanked the work of the volunteers who have joined the emergency services and the role of civil society, through NGOs, which have been actively involved from the outset and have supported the work of the institutions responsible for migration management. Rodríguez Badal stressed that this ‘is a real phenomenon, to which the Spanish Government is providing solutions, with the invaluable collaboration of these entities’, praising ‘the coordinated action of all, which has made it possible to provide the most efficient response possible to a phenomenon that must be addressed collectively and without partisan tensions’.
In this regard, the delegate warned those responsible for the Balearic Government that ‘they still have time to decide whether they want to be part of this coordinated and effective action or to continue, alone, down the unproductive path of political confrontation in the face of any emergency situation’.