Baby born on migrant ship off Spain's coast

Rescue operation off Lanzarote

Rescue workers from the Canary Islands met the dinghy with 60 occupants, including 14 women and four children, off the coast of the island of Lanzarote. Rescue workers told local media that the mother had given birth just 15 minutes before they arrived.

Emotional rescue experience

Domingo Trujillo, the captain of the lifeboat Guardamar Talía, described the experience as “beautiful” and “very emotional.” In an interview with Spanish broadcaster RTVE, he stressed that this was not the first time he had seen a newborn on a migrant boat. In 2020, he had already cut the umbilical cord of a child born on a similar journey.

Increase in irregular migration

The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago of seven islands off Africa's northwest coast, recorded a 17% increase in irregular migration in 2024, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. The migrants mainly come from Mali, Senegal and Morocco, as reported by the European border protection agency Frontex.

Background of migration

The increase in migration is attributed to a “deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the West African regions”. Data shows this route has become Europe's new migration frontline. According to migrant rights NGO Caminando Fronteras, this Atlantic migration route is the deadliest in the world.

Migrants who died on their way to Spain

In a recent report, the NGO said that between January 1 and December 5 last year, at least 10,457 migrants drowned or disappeared en route to Spain, 9,757 of them on the Atlantic route.

Political tensions in Spain

“The massive deaths continue at Europe’s borders,” journalist Sally Hayden told CNN. “In the past, many West Africans said they were too afraid to take the so-called ‘Atlantic route’ because they knew the risks, such as getting lost or dying of thirst due to delays.” Hayden, author of the award-winning book “My Fourth Time We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route,” noted that the risk many are taking shows how difficult other routes have become.

Current challenges and measures

Spain's Interior Ministry reported last week that nearly 64,000 "irregular migrants" entered the country in 2024, 73% (46,843) of them via the Canary Islands. Migration pressure on the Canary Islands is causing political tensions in Madrid as the opposition Partido Popular (PP) broke off negotiations with the minority government in October on measures to address the "migration crisis".

Planned emergency accommodation for migrants

The Spanish government is considering setting up an emergency accommodation center for migrants arriving on the coast, possibly at an airport near Madrid. Two more migrant boats were reportedly rescued near the Canary Islands on Thursday, one with 84 and one with 60 sub-Saharan occupants, the Spanish maritime rescue agency said in a post on X.