A total of 1,179 migrants arrived in the Balearics by sea in the first three months of the year, between 1 January and 31 March 2026, representing a 23.6% increase compared to the same period in 2025.
According to data published on Wednesday by the Ministry of the Interior, 57 boats have arrived in the islands, 26.7% more than in the first three months of last year.
A total of 6,218 migrants arrived in Spain irregularly in the first three months of the year, almost half the number recorded in the same period of 2025 (48.1% fewer), when 11,988 arrivals were recorded. Furthermore, the fortnightly report reveals that of the total number of migrants arriving in the first quarter, 4,352 arrived by sea, representing a 62.5% decrease compared to the first three months of 2025, when the figure stood at 11,609. They arrived on board 159 small boats, 121 fewer than in the same period of the previous year.
The data shows a decrease in the number of arrivals by sea to the Canary Islands, where 1,640 people have arrived irregularly so far this year (82.6% fewer than in the same months of 2025), aboard 17 vessels, compared to 145 the previous year.
Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving by sea on the mainland has risen to 1,524, 24.2% more than in the same period of 2025 (when 1,227 were recorded); and those arriving in the Balearics, who number 1,179, 23.6% more than the previous year (when there were 954).
Furthermore, the number of migrants arriving in Melilla by sea has risen from one to nine; and no arrivals by sea have been recorded in Ceuta, compared to the three recorded in the first three months of 2025.
Meanwhile, the report from the Ministry of the Interior reveals a 392.3% increase in the number of migrants who have arrived in Ceuta and Melilla irregularly by land so far this year, rising from 379 in the first quarter of 2025 to 1,866 in the same period of 2026. The majority of these migrants, a total of 1,819, have arrived in Ceuta, compared to 340 the previous year. In the case of Melilla, the figure has risen from 39 to 47.s risen by 85% since the war in Ukraine.