The arrival of migrants by boat to Spain reached 40,106 in 2020, more than half of them (23,023) to the Canary Islands, which is the second highest figure recorded in the last twenty years, according to data recorded by the Ministry of the Interior.
On the contrary, the 1,755 irregular entries into the country recorded at the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla, place 2020 among the five years with the lowest number of arrivals by this route.
The pandemic has marked the figures for last year in all statistics, including those that collect the figures for irregular immigration in the country. In fact, the months of September, October and November 2020 have registered a considerable increase in this record, with talk of a crisis similar to that of 2006, known as the 'canoe crisis'.
More than during the "canoe crisis'
At that time, 39,180 arrivals to Spain by sea were recorded, 926 less than those recorded in 2020. The figure collected last year places it as the second in the ranking of years with the most entries by this route, only behind 2018, when 57,498 were recorded, and ahead of the aforementioned 2006.
These three years are very different from the following ones that, by number, continue with this ranking of the last twenty years, which are: 2019 (26,168), 2017 (21,971), 2003 (19,176) and 2001 (18,571). The lowest figures in this series were recorded in 2013 (3,237), 2010 (3,632) and 2012 (3,804).
Land entries fall
And, while arrivals by sea place 2020 at the top of the classification, the entry of immigrants illegally through the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla, place 2020 among the years in which the fewest arrivals have been recorded by this route.
In total, last year 1,755 migrants arrived in Spain through the fences of the two autonomous cities, compared to the more than 6,000 that had been recorded a year earlier.
In this case, the highest figures were recorded in 2015 and 2014, when 11,624 and 7,485 people were recorded, respectively. They are followed by 2018 (6,800) and 2019 (6,345). In this case, the years in which the fewest land entries were recorded were 2009 (1,108), 2016 (1,109), 2007 (1,553), 2010 (1,567) and 2020 (1,755).
