YouTube videos encouraging migrants to come to Mallorca

The footage shows the boat trip as a pleasant placid journey, almost like a party and one YouTube video called “An Algerian immigrant arrives in the Balearic Islands in two days" showing a boat arriving in the Balearics has been viewed 3,500 times.

The videos usually contain upbeat messages, such as "God saves our brothers and connects them safely” and “Eight years ago I came to the Islands, now I live in Belgium. God be praised.” Another shows dozen migrants praying on an Algerian beach before getting on the boat and there’s also footage of migrants who’ve already settled in the Islands describing their day-to-day life and showing Mallorca as a paradise.

There's also footage of the aftermath of the coronavirus lockdown, which looks like people are partying and festive images of the hotels the migrants were forced to quarantine in.

Lawyers specialising in immigration say routes to the Balearic Islands and elsewhere in Spain are now very well established with a small group of Algerians charging the migrants between 600 and 1,000 euros each for the trip. Apparently more migrants are coming now because the closure of borders due to coronavirus restrictions means repatriation is impossible.

Most of the migrants plan to join family in France or Belgium after they arrive in Europe, but others are keen to stay in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands or the Peninsula.