Spain’s maritime rescue services assisted 12 migrants overnight off the coast of Gran Canaria, with humanitarian support provided upon their arrival, according to the Red Cross.
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The migrants were brought to the port of Arguineguín, where Red Cross personnel offered immediate medical care and assistance. In a separate incident, another boat carrying 20 migrants reached Lanzarote on the same day.
The arrivals come during the first week of Spain’s in-person application period for an extraordinary migrant regularisation programme. The initiative is a key policy of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, aimed at leveraging migration to offset the country’s ageing population and sustain economic growth.
Spain has seen a significant rise in foreign arrivals, increasing to around one million annually from approximately 300,000 a decade ago. Migrants have played a major role in the labor market, accounting for three out of every four new jobs created since 2019 and contributing nearly half of economic growth since 2022, according to economic analysts.
The policy stands in contrast to stricter migration approaches adopted by several other European nations amid growing support for far-right political movements.
