Salvamento Marítimo and emergency services brought three cayucos carrying 416 people to El Hierro on 23 October, after more than 400 arrived in four boats on 22 October.
The Guardia Civil is investigating the death of a minor whom witnesses say was thrown from a boat that reached El Hierro on 19 October, and delegate Anselmo Pestana urged caution.
Salvamento confirmed it rescued migrants who had jumped from a Moroccan navy ship, while the 30 and 31 July Ceuta influx is put at about 80,000 people, up to 100,000 per city sources.
4,492 migrants reached the Canary Islands between 14 September and 19 October, with El Hierro logging 2,595 and Lanzarote 1,415, according to El Confidencial.
On Thursday, 22 October, more than 400 people reached El Hierro in four boats, around 50 of them minors. On Friday, 23 October, Salvamento Marítimo brought three more cayucos into port with 416 people in total, according to EFE sources in emergency services. The first, carrying 205 people, mostly men including 11 women and 17 minors, was towed in by the Salvamar Diphda at about 10:15 after a seven-day crossing from Barra in Gambia, by the migrants' own account. A boat with 170 men arrived via the Salvamar Navia at about 11:30 after a seven-day trip from Saint Louis in Senegal, and a third with 41 people came in at about 12:50. Two people needed hospital transfers, and the arrivals were taken to the CATE temporary foreigners' centre in San Andrés, Valverde, where they remain in police custody until moved off the island.
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The Guardia Civil has opened an investigation into the death of a minor who, several witnesses say, was thrown overboard from a boat that reached El Hierro on 19 October. The central government's delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, announced the probe on 23 October, saying investigators aim to reconstruct the crossing and establish any criminal liability. Some people reportedly saw the minor pushed from the boat, but Pestana urged caution, noting that the force is still piecing together events and nothing is settled. He also pointed to earlier investigations into cayuco and patera journeys that had uncovered serious abuses, including rapes, killings and passengers pushed into the sea. Speaking to reporters, he said:
“There are people who are thrown overboard because they are a nuisance.”
Pestana described the practice as repeating at sea for reasons as arbitrary as a passenger's discomfort with those in charge of the boat.
Salvamento Marítimo has confirmed that one of its ships picked up migrants near Ceuta who had jumped from a Moroccan navy vessel. Artículo 14 first reported, citing security force sources, that a rescue ship saw Moroccan navy boats throwing migrants overboard on 30 July. A source with direct knowledge told the outlet that Moroccan soldiers had pulled people from the water, then threw them back when the Spanish vessel approached. Spanish rescue ships must land those they pick up in Spain and cannot return them to Morocco, so migrants reportedly preferred Spanish-flagged boats. The mass entry into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July is put at about 80,000 people, or up to 100,000 according to sources in the autonomous city, and more than 10,000 remain in the city, causing security and sanitation problems.
Spanish security force balance sheets cited by El Confidencial show 4,492 migrants reached the Canary Islands between 14 September and 19 October. Canary government spokesman Alfonso Cabello said the October increase compared with 2025 stands at 185%. About 65% set off from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia, while around 35% left from areas under Moroccan control, where few boats departed in the first half of the year. Lanzarote recorded 1,415 arrivals since mid-September, with 8 October the worst day at 203, while El Hierro counted 2,595. Security sources reportedly see the Moroccan navy easing its patrols over the 130 km of Atlantic water, with no interceptions recorded. Cabello called the increase 'insoportable' and said transfers to the mainland had slowed for lack of staff.
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Three migrants remained missing on 23 October after a five-person boat capsized in the early hours off Ceuta. Two swam ashore and alerted Guardia Civil agents. The Guardia Civil, working with the Salvamar Atria and the Helimer 222 helicopter, has searched the northern bay near Calamocarro, close to the Benzú border, but neither the missing people nor the boat had been found. The boat was reportedly heading for the coast of Cádiz.
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Salvamento Marítimo brought three cayucos carrying 416 people to El Hierro on 23 October, while Spanish security sources put Canary arrivals at 4,492 between 14 September and 19 October.
AI text based on reports by eldiario.es, La Razón, El Confidencial and other publishers. Published .