ATLANTIC ROUTE and SPAIN: Decrease in deaths along Atlantic route ― At least 50 people died in two incidents on Atlantic route in late December ― Significant decrease in arrivals on Canary Islands in 2025 ― Work begins on new reception centre on…

• There has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths of people trying to reach Spain but the Atlantic route remains particularly deadly.
• At least 50 people died in two separate incidents on the Atlantic route in the final week of 2025.
• There has been a significant decrease in the number of arrivals on the Canary Islands.
• Work has begun on a new temporary migrant reception centre (CATE) in the south of the island of Tenerife.
• United Nations experts have condemned the eviction of more than 400 people from an informal settlement in Catalonia.

There has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths of people trying to reach Spain but the Atlantic route remains particularly deadly. According to the 2025 edition of the ‘Monitoring the Right to Life’ report by the NGO Caminando Fronteras, 3,090 people died on the various migration routes from northwest Africa to Spain between 1 January and 15 December 2025 compared to 10,457 in the previous year. The NGO also found that 1,906 deaths occurred on the Atlantic route and that there had been an overall increase in the number of shipwrecks (303) with at least 70 boats disappearing without a trace. Meanwhile, the increasingly popular Algerian route (Algeria to the Balearic Islands) cost the lives of 1,037 people in 2025. Caminando Fronteras attributed the deaths to “a combination of factors, including the omission of the duty to rescue, the late or non-activation of search and rescue mechanisms, and the lack of coordination among the States involved”.

At least 39 people lost their lives after a boat capsized off the coast of Gambia on 31 December 2025. According to a spokesperson for the Gambian Immigration Department, 112 people had been rescued as of 7 January. The Gambian Ministry of Defence had previously estimated that the boat could have been carrying more than 200 people when it capsized near Jinack village in the North Bank region. Survivors described the boat as “overcrowded and dilapidated”.

The tragedy off Gambia’s coast came exactly one week after at least 12 people died when a boat capsized off the coast of Senegal. According to Senegalese authorities, the boat was carrying approximately 100 people when it capsized close to the coastal town of Joal Fadiout on 24 December. They reported that 12 bodies had been recovered and that there were at least 32 survivors.

There has been a significant decrease in the number of arrivals on the Canary Islands. According to data published by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, arrivals on the archipelago fell by 62% to 17,788 in 2025. This decrease was a major factor in the overall decrease in the number of people arriving irregularly in Spain. According to the same government data, there were 36,775 irregular arrivals in Spain in 2025 compared to 64,019 in 2024 (43% decrease).

Work has begun on a new temporary migrant reception centre (CATE) in the south of the island of Tenerife. According to the Canarian Weekly newspaper, the CATE at the port of Gradilla will accommodate up to 348 people and is expected to be ready before the end of 2026. It is intended to improve “security, organisation and humanitarian response” in the south of Tenerife.

United Nations experts have condemned the eviction of more than 400 people from an informal settlement in Catalonia. Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context Balakrishnan Rajagopal and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants Gehad Madi said that the eviction on 17 December from a former secondary school in Badalona was “pushing hundreds of vulnerable individuals into homelessness in the middle of winter, without any adequate alternative housing offered by municipal authorities,” adding: “With no alternative housing provided, the vast majority of those evicted has no choice but to seek again refuge in other informal settlements or to camp in the open”. The experts reminded the Badalona City Council about the human rights law implications of evicting people without providing any housing alternatives and urged it to ensure that all evicted people “have access to housing that is safe and adequate to protect their rights and dignity”.

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