702 migrants reach El Hierro in 24 hours as Canary arrivals surge

Boats keep arriving at El Hierro

Rescue crews brought a steady run of cayucos into La Restinga, the port on El Hierro, between the night of Tuesday, 3 November, and the morning of Wednesday, 4 November. Europa Press, citing Salvamento Marítimo sources, reported that four boats carrying more than 236 people were located in those hours. The first, with 111 people on board, was detected at 23:29 on Tuesday about four miles south of the port, and a second, with 125 people, was spotted at 01:45 on Wednesday. Salvamar Diphda escorted both to harbour.

Two more boats were picked up on Wednesday morning at 08:40 and 09:35 by the Navia and Diphda, but the number of people on them had not been established when the agency reported.

Totals in other reports are higher. RTVE counted eight boats and 702 people reaching El Hierro within 24 hours, with the eighth boat carrying 92 people. It said six of the boats, with 557 people, had sailed from Senegal and carried passengers from Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry. La Razón reported 377 people on four boats that arrived between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, including 21 women and 19 minors, and said the boats had left Senegal after five to seven days at sea. ABC Tu Diario put the 24-hour count at 763 people on seven boats.

Seven dead on a dinghy near Lanzarote

On Monday, 2 November, seven people died on a rubber dinghy carrying 139 migrants. The boat was rescued about 150 kilometres northeast of Arrecife, on Lanzarote, and only two bodies were found on board. According to survivors' accounts reported by RTVE, the other five had been thrown into the Atlantic, in circumstances that remain unclear.

RTVE reports that more than 1,000 people have reached the Canary archipelago since the weekend. Salvamento Marítimo estimates that more than 400 of them arrived on Monday alone.

Regional response and transfers

Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo has again asked Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for a coordination meeting to address the rise in arrivals, RTVE reported on Wednesday. On the same morning, the Government Delegation in the Canaries chartered a Fred Olsen ship to move 500 migrants from El Hierro to resources on Tenerife.

ABC Tu Diario's account of the operations on 3 November also lists a boat with 172 people, nine of them children, sighted near Playa de Las Vistas on Tenerife. The Salvamar Alpheratz escorted it to Los Cristianos.

Notícias ao Minuto cites estimates that 17,788 migrants reached the Spanish islands in 2025 on 263 boats. It also cites a UN figure of 416 dead or missing this year, and notes that crossings have fallen from the 2023 and 2024 records while the route has become more lethal.

Figures still moving

The totals differ because they were measured at different hours and cover different windows. As of the Europa Press report on Wednesday, the number of people on two of the boats had not been announced. The 500-person transfer from El Hierro to Tenerife was chartered on Wednesday morning.