Wave of illegal immigrants sail into the Balearics

This latest group of immigrants, in apparently good health, was intercepted on land by the Formentera patrol, after a fishing boat spotted the boat and alerted the authorities.

Earlier in the day, the Guardia Civil intercepted two small boats with 37 people on board south of the island of Cabrera, both of which were detected by the Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE).

Later, two other groups of migrants were intercepted on land, one with 17 people on board (four of them women) in the port of Colònia de Sant Jordi, in the Mallorcan municipality of Ses Salines, in the south of Mallorca, and the other carrying 18 people on the beach of Can Curt, also in Colònia.

In addition, at around 11:10 a.m. another 14 people of North African origin were intercepted at sea, in Mallorcan waters, in a vessel previously detected by SIVE.

So far this year 32 small boats have arrived in the Balearics, carrying 467 people.

In 2021, 164 boats and 2,402 migrants arrived on the islands; the previous year there were 112 boats and 1,464 migrants. In 2019, 41 boats with 507 migrants arrived on the islands.