The centre right Partido Popular party in the Council of Mallorca has announced its intention to table a motion in the next plenary session of the island’s parliament to urgently demand the support of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to deal with the migration crisis affecting the island.
According to the party’s spokesperson in the institution, Núria Riera, the initiative stems from the ‘uncontrolled’ increase in the arrival of irregular immigrants. A situation that she considers ‘unsustainable’ and that requires ‘immediate and effective’ measures from the central government. Riera has criticised the ‘inaction’ of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, emphasising that experts have already confirmed that the Balearics have become an established and expanding migratory route due to their proximity to Algeria and the lack of effective controls.
‘The inability of Pedro Sánchez’s government to manage this crisis is further aggravating the situation and it is essential to call for the support of the European Union to guarantee security and border control,’ the “popular” party lamented. The PP’s regional minister for the Balearics, Maria Magdalena Garcia, pointed out that the increase in arrivals to the Balearics reached record figures in 2024, with 346 boats and 5,836 migrants, according to data from the Government Delegation in the Islands. ‘We are facing a real humanitarian drama and the Sánchez government cannot continue to look the other way,’ she said.
The motion presented by the PP urges the central government to act immediately and to claim all the resources that the European Union makes available to member states for the management of migratory crises. ‘We cannot allow Mallorca to continue to be an entry point without any kind of control and for the central government to ignore the needs of our islands,’ Garcia concluded.
Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, supports EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries in the management of the EU’s external borders and the fight against cross-border crime. Frontex is a centre of excellence for border control activities at the EU’s external borders, sharing intelligence and expertise with all Member States and with neighbouring non-EU countries affected by migratory trends and cross-border crime.
With the standing corps, the European Union’s first uniformed law enforcement service, Frontex has transformed into an operational arm of the EU. Hundreds of officers are taking part in operations at the external borders of the European Union and beyond. They perform a variety of tasks such as border surveillance, fighting cross-border crime, and assisting in return operations. The officers stand together with national authorities to safeguard the Schengen Area, one of Europe’s greatest achievements.
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