Nearly 2,200 migrants perished trying to reach Spain by sea in 2020, most via the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic, according to an NGO.
The arrivals of migrants in this archipelago have increased this year because of the reinforced controls in the Mediterranean, another route allowing to reach Spain.
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In total, 2,170 migrants died trying to cross to Spain against only 893 in 2019, according to a study by the NGO "Caminando Fronteras", which monitors migratory flows.
Of that total, 85% of the deaths, or 1,851, occurred in 45 shipwrecks en route to the Canaries, the study said.
According to figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, from January 1 to November 30, 2020, 19,566 migrants reached the archipelago, against 1993 in 2019. For the month of November alone, according to the ministry, more than 8,000 migrants have landed in the Canaries, a Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa.
The Spanish government has launched an emergency plan to create 7,000 temporary accommodation places in the Canaries with 84 million euros in European funds, in addition to accommodating migrants in hotels and tourist complexes that have remained empty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
