The spike has raised fears of a resurgence of migrant traffic to the Atlantic islands, a route taken by tens of thousands of people a decade ago. The figures coincide with a crackdown on illegal immigration by Morocco where the numbers of those trying to reach mainland Spain by boat have fallen. By contrast, the numbers arriving in mainland Spain were down 72 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Over the past two years, the overall number of arrivals in Spain more than halved, the ministry said, falling from 57,498 in 2018 to 26,168 in 2019. Last year, Morocco prevented a large number of boats from setting sail for Spain, with the interior ministry telling AFP it had prevented “74,000 illegal attempts” to reach Spain.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 04, 2020 15:22 UTC