Rescuers found a boat adrift near the coast of southeastern Spain, with four female corpses on board. According to the first elements of the investigation, these were migrant women who were trying to reach Spain from North Africa.
This new tragedy at sea comes a few days after the adoption by the European Union of a vast migration reform. In 2023, 56,852 illegal migrants, almost double that of 2022 (+ 82.1%), entered Spain, due to unprecedented arrivals in the Canary Islands archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean. At least 6,618 migrants died or disappeared in 2023 while trying to reached the country, or 18 disappearances per day on average, according to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras. The autopsy of the bodies, scheduled for this Friday, will have to determine the precise causes of death. The boat, towed to the port of Cartagena, could have found itself running out of fuel, rescuers also said. The bodies are being identified, sea rescuers said.