Rescuers found a boat adrift near the coast of southeastern Spain, with four dead women on board. These are probably migrants who tried to reach the Spanish coast from North Africa, said the Guardia Civil.
Spain is one of the main gateways for irregular immigration to the European continent. In 2023, 56,852 illegal migrants, almost double the number in 2022 (+82.1%), entered the country, 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 reach Spain, according to the Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras, or 18 disappearances per day on average. The boat, towed to the port from Cartagena, may have found itself short of fuel, says the Civil Guard, which is in charge of the investigation. The bodies were those of four women but that there was no other information on their identity (age, origin, etc.)