200 migrants in boats rescued near Lanzarote over the weekend
The Maritime Rescue service intercepted two more migrant boats off Lanzarote at the weekend, bringing the total number of arrivals to around 200 people.
On Sunday evening, Salvamento Marítimo rescued 54 people, including four women, from a rubber dinghy at sea. The vessel is expected to arrive at Puerto Naos around 9:00pm. At the same time, search crews were attempting to locate a second boat believed to be carrying another 39 people to the east of the island.
These latest rescues follow two earlier arrivals: one on Friday carrying 57 people, including six minors and four women, and another on Sunday morning with 50 people on board.
The influx is placing additional strain on the Centro de Atención y Tránsito de Extranjeros (CATE) in Arrecife, which has an official capacity of 300 but frequently exceeds this due to the constant flow of arrivals. Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman have previously criticised conditions at the centre as inadequate.
The Canary Islands Government has warned that, based on patterns from previous years, a further 7,000 migrants could reach the archipelago before the end of 2025.
In November 2024 alone, more than 7,000 people arrived on the islands from the African continent.
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