On Wednesday, the Canary Islands in Spain will commemorate 30 years since the first two young men from Western Sahara—the first in an ever-expanding wave of African migrants—arrived there.
Since then, thousands of people have crossed hundreds of kilometers in cramped, flimsy boats in pursuit of a better life in Europe, landing on the Atlantic islands off the northwest coast of Africa. Over 200,000 of these migrants have arrived.
The socialist prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, is visiting three African nations where a large number of migrants originate: Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, where he landed on Tuesday, coinciding with the anniversary of the opening of the so-called Canaries route.
Sanchez will try to get these nations to step up their efforts to stop migrants from heading to the Canaries, which are struggling to cope with a surge in arrivals.
The archipelago received a record 39,910 migrants in 2023, a figure it is on track to surpass this year.
This year, more than 22,000 migrants have already arrived in the Canaries, and according to estimates from the Spanish government, 200,000 people—many of whom are from war-torn Mali—are already waiting to cross in Mauritania.
Before arrivals really took off in 2006, at least 30,000 migrants had reached the archipelago between 1994 and that year. 31,678 migrants arrived in the Canaries that year, setting a record that was only surpassed the year before.
According to estimates from the interior ministry, since 2006, 186,811 migrants have arrived in the archipelago, raising the total number of entries since August 28, 1994, to above 200,000.
That day, there were two Sahrawi arrived on the island Fuerteventura on a small wooden boat to request political asylum.
