The Canary route remains the deadliest in Spain, despite the decrease in arrivals. According to the report Monitoring the Right to Life, prepared by the NGO Caminando Fronteras, between January and May 2025 there were 113 tragedies on the irregular migration routes between Africa and Spain, most of them on crossings across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands.
Also known as the Atlantic route, the migratory journey to the archipelago, "continues to concentrate most of the massive shipwrecks and disappearances of people at sea".
Border controls in Morocco and Western Sahara mean that the dinghies, which arrive in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, are leaving from increasingly remote places, such as the cities of Guelmin, Sidi Ifni and Tiznit. This implies "even greater distances", which are covered "in extremely fragile boats", explains the group, which warns of the vital risks for the occupants.
Meanwhile, the increase in boats leaving from Mauritania, through cayucos, continues and departures from Gambia and Senegal decrease "significantly". In addition, the group records "occasional" departures from Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry.
1,482 people died on the Canary route
Between January and May of this year, Caminando Fronteras reports that 1,865 people have died on the four usual maritime routes to the country, according to the daily monitoring carried out by the entity with migrants, families and communities. Of these, 1,482 deaths occurred on the Canary Islands coasts; meanwhile, 328 took place on the Algeria route, three on the Alborán route, and 52 on the Strait of Gibraltar route.
Of the victims detected by the non-governmental organization, 1,318 died on the journey from Mauritania to the Canary Islands; followed by 110 deaths from departures from Senegal and Gambia; and to a lesser extent, 54 deaths from departures from Morocco (Agadir) and Western Sahara (Dakhla).
In total, 38 boats have disappeared with all the people on board trying to reach European borders. Of the dead, there were people from up to 22 countries. Among them, from West African countries such as Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria or Gambia, but also from Central Africa such as Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo; nationals from countries in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia); from the Middle East (Afghanistan and Syria), from the Comoros Islands; as well as from Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan.
The main reasons behind these deaths
Caminando Fronteras points out that the "main factors" that contribute to the increase in mortality are "the lack of activation of search and rescue resources", thus ensuring that "adequate resources are not mobilized or those that are deployed are clearly insufficient".
In this sense, it points to "inaction" on the part of the authorities, where "despite having the exact location" the protocols are not applied and that the rescue services assume "discriminatory use", where "while there is no imminent sinking, there is no real urgency" to rescue the survivors, "despite the fact that the boats lack minimum guarantees".
The group indicates that there are "arbitrary decisions" when activating rescue resources and "territorial inequality" when applying the protocols depending on the area. In addition, it states that the "coordination between States is deficient", that there are "inadequate practices during rescues" and the use of violence in exit controls, by criminal networks and security forces. At the same time, it indicates the physical and extreme conditions suffered by migrants and the "serious" precariousness of the boats.
