Spanish services rescue over 200 migrants off Lanzarote and 79 off El Hierro

Overnight rescue off Lanzarote

Spanish maritime rescue services intercepted an inflatable boat carrying 125 migrants after the craft took on water northeast of Lanzarote. The operation began at 22:54 on Wednesday when occupants alerted emergency services to navigation difficulties caused by incoming water. The Las Palmas Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre launched a search operation assisted by commercial merchant vessels in the area. Rescue vessels Salvamar Acrux and Salvamar Al Nair reached the craft in international waters northeast of the island, reported at 68.5 kilometres by local emergency services and 58 nautical miles (about 107 kilometres) by Salvamento Maritimo. Responders brought all 125 occupants, consisting of 99 men, four women, and 22 minors of Maghrebi and sub-Saharan origin, into the port of Arrecife. Emergency personnel confirmed that all passengers arrived in apparent good health.

Second inflatable boat intercepted midday

During the midday hours of Thursday, Salvamento Maritimo intercepted another inflatable craft navigating 78 nautical miles (about 144 kilometres) northeast of Lanzarote. The Las Palmas coordination centre mobilized the Salvamar Al Nair to assist the craft after receiving notification of its location. Rescuers brought 78 sub-Saharan migrants onto the rescue boat, including 64 men, 12 women, and two minors. The operation raised the total number of people rescued in waters off Lanzarote on Thursday to more than 200. The vessel transported the group to the dock at Arrecife, with arrival scheduled after 18:00 local time. Responders reported that all occupants were in apparent good health.

Arrival of wooden cayuco at El Hierro

Emergency teams carried out parallel operations off El Hierro, where authorities detected a wooden cayuco south of the island. A Guardia Civil radar spotted the vessel approximately 7.7 nautical miles (12.3 kilometres) south of the coast on Thursday afternoon. The rescue boat Salvamar Diphda deployed to the position and escorted the craft into the port of La Restinga around 15:20 local time. The cayuco carried 79 people, comprising 74 men, two women, and three minors from Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Conakry. Passengers reported that their vessel had departed from the coastal city of Saint-Louis in Senegal six days prior. Medical staff from the Canary Emergency Service and the Red Cross met the arrivals at the dock, transferring one patient with acute abdominal pain to the Hospital Insular de El Hierro.

Rising boat capacity on the Atlantic route

The 125-person inflatable craft arrived as the largest vessel of its type documented on the Canary migration route. Before the summer of 2026, inflatable boats carrying over 100 passengers had not been registered along this passage. The arrival is the fourth inflatable boat carrying more than 100 people rescued on routes toward Lanzarote within three months, following boats carrying 122 people on 8 July, 111 on 20 August, and 107 on 14 September. Human trafficking networks historically loaded pneumatic dinghies with 50 to 60 passengers before increasing loads to 80 or 90 individuals in recent years. Passenger counts on these rubber dinghies now equal totals typically seen on Mauritanian wooden cayucos sailing from Nouadhibou or Nouakchott. Interior Ministry data compiled through September indicates that irregular migration arrivals to the Canary Islands decreased 44.5% year-on-year.