Migrants sailing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands are launching from farther south in 2025, turning already perilous crossings into longer, deadlier journeys.
Red Cross data show small boats increasingly departing beyond Mauritania, after a security crackdown there squeezed traditional routes northward.
Arrivals from the Gambia more than doubled to 22 boats this year, compared with nine during the same period in 2024.
Three vessels also reached the Canaries from Guinea, including one that left Conakry on an 11-day voyage exceeding 2,000 kilometres.
Migrants and rights groups say Mauritanian police intensified controls in March last year, following a 2024 pact with the European Union.
That agreement aimed to curb irregular migration, but it appears to have pushed departures deeper into the Atlantic’s most treacherous waters.
Red Cross interviews show departures from Mauritania fell 89% between April and December, compared with the same period in 2024.
Spain’s Interior Ministry reports overall arrivals from West Africa were down 59% in 2025 through October.
Yet the shrinking numbers mask rising danger, as journeys grow longer, fuel scarcer, and survival more uncertain.
“The most lethal crossing to Europe is sadly set to become more lethal still,” said Hassan Ould Moctar of SOAS University.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited Nouakchott three times in two years, as Mauritania became a key departure point.
The European Commission did not immediately comment, as the ocean continues to draw new lines of risk across its restless surface.
