Over 3,000 Migrants Died Trying to Reach Spain in 2025, Numbers Down from Previous Year
Between January 1 and December 15, 2025, 3,090 migrants drowned attempting to reach Spain, according to Caminando Fronteras. Among the deceased were 192 women and 437 children. This figure marks a significant decrease from the 10,457 fatalities recorded during the same period in 2024, a decline largely attributed to tighter border policing across migration routes.
Despite the reduction in fatalities, activists warn that the lower numbers may indicate that migrants are resorting to more dangerous routes. For example, 69 people drowned in a capsizing incident off the coast of Mauritania. In total, there were 303 shipwrecks reported in 2025 up to mid-December, with as many as 70 boats disappearing without a trace.
The deadliest route remains the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, which accounted for 1,906 deaths. The route from Algeria to the Balearic Islands saw 1,037 fatalities. Additionally, a new migration route emerged from Guinea to the Canary Islands during this period.
Spain recorded 35,935 irregular migrant arrivals by sea and land up to December 15, 2025, a drop from 60,311 in the same timeframe in 2024.
Mauritania, which became a key departure point for migrants to Spain, signed a €210 million migration partnership with the European Union in 2024. However, Human Rights Watch has accused Mauritania of systemic abuses against migrants, including rape and torture, allegations which Mauritania has rejected. Caminando Fronteras describes Mauritania's approach as a policy of necropolitics and criticizes its institutional response to rescue operations as inadequate.
The victims came from 30 countries, mainly from West and North Africa, with additional entries from Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and Egypt.
