The Director General of Immigration and Cooperation in the Balearics, Manuel Pavón, has warned that the arrival of nearly 400 people in small boats in 72 hours shows that the migration route between Algeria and the Balearics is ‘unsustainable’ and has lamented that, in the face of this situation, the central government is ‘looking the other way’.
Speaking to the press, Pavón insisted that the islands ‘can’t take any more’ and demanded “effective” international policies from the government to curb departures from countries of origin. Pavón considers the state’s response to be ‘insufficient’ despite the fact that the migration route to the Balearics, as he said, is the fastest growing in the country and on the continent.
The director general also criticised Spain’s vote this week against the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which was approved by the rest of the European Union countries. In the same vein, he accused the government of sending an ‘inconsistent message’ by declaring a migration contingency to unlock resources while, at the same time, failing to strengthen the care of unaccompanied minors, whose guardianship falls to the community.
Pavón pointed out that the situation is particularly serious in Ibiza and Formentera, where 167 and 34 people have arrived in 72 hours, respectively, and he once again warned that there is a shortage of Guardia Civil and National Police personnel on these islands. He also stressed that the Balearics lack sufficient facilities and personnel to care for the nearly 750 migrant minors in their care, and therefore emphasised the Balearics’ opposition to the state’s distribution plan.
The director general also called on the government for transparency, an ‘urgent’ reinforcement of police personnel and a formal request to the European Union for the permanent deployment of Frontex in the Balearics. ‘If Spain does not act, we will have to ask Europe for help,’ said Pavón, who insisted that the community is doing ‘everything possible’ to address the situation, but added that ‘without state support there will be no solution’.
So far this year, 393 small boats have arrived in the Balearics with at least 7,281 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 archipelago by sea, according to the Ministry of the Interior’s Annual National Security Report.