2,170 migrants died trying to reach Spain

Nearly 2,200 migrants died trying to reach Spain by sea this year, the vast majority of them on their way to the Canary Islands, a migrant rights group said Tuesday. 

Migrants arrivals in the archipelago have increased this year as they looked for alternative routes to reach Europe due to increased patrolling off the Mediterranean coast of southern Spain, posing a logistical strain for authorities in the Canaries.

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A total of 2,170 migrants perished in attempts to get to Spain by boat this year, compared to 893 in 2019, according to the report by the NGO Caminando Fronteras. The shortest route to the islands is more than 100 kilometres from the Moroccan coast, but it is notoriously dangerous because of the strong currents in the Atlantic.