Spanish maritime-search service Salvamento Marítimo and the Guardia Civil intercepted four small boats (pateras) off Ibiza and Formentera during the early hours of 20 July. The first craft was located at 02:25 h in Cala Es Cuco (Ibiza) with 14 Maghrebi men on board. Two further groups – 17 people near Pilar de la Mola (Formentera) at 08:00 h and 24 people ten nautical miles south of Formentera at 13:45 h – were rescued later in the morning. A fourth boat carrying 16 migrants was detected close to Cala Pi (Mallorca) just after 15:30 h. All arrivals were transferred to Port de la Sabina and Palma, where the Red Cross carried out initial health screenings before the National Police opened inadmissibility files. The archipelago has seen a sharp spike in maritime arrivals since June, with 3,656 people reaching the islands so far this year, according to Interior-ministry figures. Local officials blame favourable summer weather, lower surveillance on Algerian routes and the ripple effect of tighter controls in the Canary Islands for pushing traffickers to the western Mediterranean. Balearic authorities say reception facilities are operating “at the limit” and have called on Madrid to accelerate onward transfers to mainland centres. Business groups, worried about tourism reputational risks, are urging a swift humanitarian but orderly response. For mobility managers, the incident is another reminder that ad-hoc border checks can be re-introduced without notice when security resources are diverted to search-and-rescue work. Companies moving staff through Palma or Ibiza airports this week should allow extra time for possible identity-verification operations and be aware that ferry links with Valencia and Barcelona could be subject to spot inspections while crews are redeployed at sea.
Source: elDiario.es
