Spain: Little island sees over 100 migrants arrive in single day | World | News

More than 100 migrants arrived on a little Spanish island on Tuesday and Wednesday as Europe also grapples with its own crisis.

On Tuesday, 82 migrants arrived on Formentera island, which is home to just 12,000 people.

Then, on Wednesday, another 50 turned up, as local politicians continue to panic as the tiny island is becoming overrun by asylum seekers arriving in small boats. The number of migrants that arrived in a single day equals nearly one per cent of the island’s total population.

The Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands said the migrants are “in apparent good health.”

Just after midnight on Wednesday, migrants of Maghrebi origin were found near the coastline in the area of Cap de Barbaria.

Then, at 12.45am, 12 more Maghrebis were found in the area of es Cupinar before the island’s Civil Guard intervened.

Vicent Mari said: “This situation requires care services that are neither prepared nor sized to deal with this issue.

“We need the provision of the necessary surveillance and resources to prevent and control this massive arrival.”

According to Statista, the Canary Islands had 561 migrant boats arrive on its shores in 2023, second only to the Balearic Islands.