Spain: Immigration new gateway to Europe

Thousands of refugees and immigrants who want to reach Europe choose a new maritime route, the one through Spain. Arrivals have more than doubled since the beginning of the year, mainly due to the situation in Libya.

Since Wednesday eight ships carrying 380 people have been located off the Andalusian coast of Alboran between Morocco and Spain. Michel Araguas, spokesman for SOS Racism in Spain, stated: “We are worried because we observe numbers we haven’t seen for years, and it is a treacherous area where the currents are strong”. Africans from Guinea, Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Burkina Faso leaving their countries because of political or economic instability seem to avoid the way through Niger and Libya to Italy.

Every year migratory routes are changing. Following the closure of the Balkan Road in March 2016, migrants turned to Libya and Italy. Helena Malena Gartagone member of Caminando Fronteras, a refugee organization, says that some people now know that this road is dangerous and that the controls are getting tighter. The dramatic testimonies of the situation in Libya, which is submerged in chaos after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, are multiplying. So far, Spain has been cautious about appealing to Italy and other European countries to allow ships rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean to use its ports and help accommodate tens of thousands of refugees.