The Diplomat
The arrival of migrants to Spain by irregular means in 2021 has reached 16,586 from 1 January to 1 August, 48.4% more than in the same period in 2020, when there were 11,177, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior published yesterday and collected by Europa Press.
This figure also represents an increase of nearly 2,000 people in the last two weeks of July alone, as 14,737 migrants had arrived irregularly by 15 July. Of the total number of migrants arriving so far in 2021, the majority, 15,317, have arrived in Spain by sea, 56.4% more than in the same months of 2020, when 9,792 arrived; and they have done so in a total of 968 small boats.
Among the migrants arriving by sea, 7,531 arrived in the Canary Islands, more than double the number in the same period last year (3,185). Another 7,292 people arrived by patera to the Balearic Islands and the mainland, 11.8% more than in 2020.
In addition, the data show that 494 migrants arrived by sea to Ceuta, six times more than the previous year, when 82 arrived by this route. Meanwhile, in Melilla, no migrants have arrived by sea so far in 2021, compared to 5 in 2020.
By land, between 1 January and 30 July 2021, 878 migrants have crossed into Melilla by irregular means, 26.9% less than in 2020, when 1,201 were recorded.
Meanwhile, in Ceuta, the figure could not be updated as the data is under analysis and processing, according to the Ministry of Interior. According to the latest available figure, at least 391 migrants have crossed into Ceuta so far this year, more than double the number of the previous year (184).
