Approximately 400 irregular migrants have arrived on Spanish shores since last Friday. Gran Canaria, the Balearic Islands, and Almería have been the primary destinations for the makeshift boats.
Key Rescues by Maritime Salvage
Specifically, Maritime Salvage rescued 236 migrants in the early hours of Sunday from a boat that had been found drifting and was no longer operational, located 232 miles south of Gran Canaria.
The National Maritime Rescue Centre received an alert from the vessel Teos, which reported a stationary boat with numerous people aboard. While the ship secured the vessel with a rope, it requested assistance, as further operations were deemed unsafe. The boat had lost its engine and was adrift.
As a result, the Maritime Rescue Centre in Las Palmas mobilised the guard ship Urania, which at 2:15 AM on Sunday rescued the 236 sub-Saharan individuals, including men, women, and children. They were transported to the port of Arguineguín.
Emergency Response in Almería
In Almería, the immediate response teams for emergencies and humanitarian aid to migrants (ERIE-AHI) from the Red Cross assisted a total of 140 migrants at the fishing port of Almería. They were found either in makeshift boats or having reached the coast of the province by their own means since last Friday.
Sources from the organisation have confirmed to Europa Press that the teams have been activated on around ten occasions, mostly on Sunday, when six separate actions were undertaken to assist groups of up to 33 people.
In this context, based on the efforts of emergency and rescue services, 22 individuals were made available to the Red Cross on Friday, followed by another 18 on Saturday and 100 on Sunday. There have been reports of rescues at various points along the Almeria coastline, from El Playazo de Vera to the Cabo de Gata area or San Miguel beach in El Ejido in the western region.
Search Operations in the Balearic Islands
In the Balearic Islands, the search operation for 12 missing migrants from a capsized boat in Cabrera and three from a vessel southwest of Mallorca has been suspended.
This was confirmed on Monday by Maritime Salvage, which explained that no further search operations would be undertaken, although they will issue alerts to sailors in case of any sightings.
The boat from which the 12 migrants jumped was rescued on Friday afternoon approximately 36 miles southwest of Cabrera, carrying a total of 26 individuals. In a separate incident, search efforts were ongoing for three missing migrants from a vessel that capsized the previous Wednesday south of Mallorca, after being adrift for about six days.
Agencies EP
