The so-called Canary Route of pateras is increasingly turning towards the "short" routes from Morocco and the north of the Sahara to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, islands that already concentrate more than 53% of arrivals, mostly carried out by inflatable boats, while long-distance crossings from Dakhla, Mauritania or Senegal are losing weight.
According to the count of arrivals until September 5 managed by the Red Cross, which Efe has had access to, this year 11,057 immigrants have landed in the Canary Islands, 13.46% of them minors.
By islands, Gran Canaria has received 4,754 people (42.99% of the total); Lanzarote, 3,957 (35.78%); Fuerteventura, 1,941 (17.55%); Tenerife, 222 (2.00%); El Hierro, 94 (0.85%); and La Gomera, 89 (80%).
Gran Canaria has been at the forefront of the statistics since the Route was reactivated in the summer of 2019, but its figures are decreasing: in 2020 it accounted for 70.59% of arrivals, while in 2021 it only received 41.88%, a percentage that remains in 2022 with only one quarter to finish the year (42.99%).
On the other hand, if the focus is placed on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, the two islands closest to the continent, from which they are only 100 kilometers away in the narrowest passage, the opposite trend is observed: in 2020 together they represented only 9.86% of the Route's traffic, in 2021 they rose to 46.2% (already above Gran Canaria) and, at this moment, they already account for more than half of the entries (53.34%).
The alerts received by Maritime Rescue and NGOs working in the area, such as Caminando Fronteras or Alarm Phone, are consistent with these figures: most of the departures of pateras notified to the Spanish authorities in recent months come from a stretch of coast that runs from Tan-Tan (Morocco) to Bojador (Sahara).
Especially from the surroundings of two cities: El Aaiún and Tarfaya, the closest to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, islands that the inflatable boats can reach in 24 or 36 hours, if they do not suffer mishaps.
On the other hand, arrivals from Dakhla (three or four days of crossing) or the north of Mauritania (five or six days) have been significantly reduced, which is reflected in the statistics of Gran Canaria, the island where these journeys usually end.
In parallel, expeditions of ten days or more (from southern Mauritania, Senegal or Gambia) hardly have any prominence, as shown by the data from the islands where they used to end up: Tenerife (if the journey goes well) and El Hierro (if they drift west)
Tenerife accounted for 15.73% of arrivals to the Canary Islands in 2020 (3,669 people), when a certain rebound was perceived in cayuco crossings compared to previous years. In 2021, its share of the Route fell to 5.69% (1,289 people) and, this year, it only accounts for 2% (222 people)
The same trend can be seen in El Hierro: it was the destination of 3.22% of arrivals in 2020 (732 people) and 5.42% in 2021 (1,229 people), but now it does not even reach 1% (94 people).
The Red Cross data also show that the percentages of presence of women and minors on the route that were already observed in 2021 are being repeated, when they made an important leap compared to the numbers of 2020, a year with more weight of adult males.
Minors represent 13.46% of the accumulated arrivals in 2022 (1,489 people) and women, 14.94% (1,652).
The total balance of minors includes 91 babies, 197 children from 3 to 11 years old and 1,183 adolescents from 12 to 17 years old.
