The president of the Balearic government, Marga Prohens, has warned that the migration route between Algeria and the Balearics is ‘the fastest growing in Europe’ and has once again demanded the deployment of Frontex personnel in the region. She made the statement on Thursday at a press conference following a meeting with the presidents of the four island councils to address the migration crisis in the islands.
So far this year, Prohens said, more than 4,700 migrants have arrived in the Balearics by boat, ‘twice as many as last year at this time’. In the last 20 days alone, she said, some 1,500 people have arrived. “We have reviewed the data and the route between Algeria and the Balearics is the one that is growing the most, not only in Spain but in the whole of Europe,” she said.
To address this situation, the regional leader has called on the government to intensify its diplomatic relations with Algeria, as promised by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, “to control the arrival of small boats and fight against the mafias that traffic in human lives and make money from this route.”
Prohens announced that, together with the presidents of the island councils, they will meet soon - the plan is for the end of September - with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, to discuss the possibility of Frontex being deployed in the Balearics. “Since 2021, Frontex has been warning about the situation on the Balearic route. Since 2024, it has raised the alert to medium level and we are aware that since 2025 they have considered raising it to high level so that they can be deployed,” she said.
She explained this measure would allow the Balearics to have human resources specialised in border control and migration management. It would also provide material resources such as drones and radars. “It would mean that when these people arrive, the checks and interviews carried out would be much more thorough and the information we have to know how to act in each case would be more reliable,” she added.