A total of 45 migrants arrived on the coasts of Ibiza and Mallorca on Monday aboard two small boats. According to information provided by the Government Delegation, 19 people of Maghreb origin were rescued 85 miles southeast of Ibiza. The boat was detected by the Guardia Civil’s Coastal and Border Maritime Surveillance Coordination Centre (Cecorvigmar), in coordination with Frontex and Maritime Rescue. Later, 26 people of Maghreb origin were rescued in Cala Santanyí, Mallorca.
No boats had been detected in the Balearics since 20 November, when five North African migrants were rescued 40 miles south of the island of Cabrera and another 18 were reported missing after jumping into the sea. So far this year, 367 boats have arrived in the Balearics with a total of 6,849 migrants on board, according to EFE’s count based on data from the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Delegation. During 2024, 5,882 immigrants arrived in the region by sea, according to the Ministry of the Interior’s Annual National Security Report.
The Minister of the Presidency, Coordination of Government Action and Local Cooperation, Antònia Estarellas, said on Tuesday that dismantling each of the small boats that arrive in the community costs around 850 euros. She made this statement during a parliamentary response in Tuesday’s plenary session, where she said that, as of 15 November, 365 small boats had arrived on the Balearic coast according to figures from the Ministry, although she added that it is a ‘phenomenon that is on the rise’.
As Estarellas explained, she cannot give an exact figure for the specific cost of dismantling the boats as this is not within the competence of the regional government. However, she indicated that it is yet another cost that must be passed on to the citizens of the Balearics, ‘whatever island they are from, and yet another example of the government’s neglect and lack of will’ on this issue. The minister was responding to Vox MP Patricia de las Heras, who asked her about the cost of removing and destroying the boats stranded on the coast.
De las Heras pointed out that the cost of this action could amount to more than €200,000 in the Balearics and said that these boats are used by Algerian mafias that profit from these trips. Although the coasts have been filled with boats, ‘the environmentalists, or eco-warriors, are nowhere to be seen here,’ she said. The minister explained that this phenomenon is on the rise and, despite having approached the government, ‘we are alone’, for which she criticised the central government’s ‘non-existent migration policy’.