In 2025, 3,090 people lost their lives on migration routes to Spain, according to the NGO Caminando Fronteras. While this figure is significantly lower than in 2024 — a record year with more than 10,000 deaths — it still highlights the extreme dangers faced by migrants attempting to reach Spanish territory.
This decrease is partly explained by cooperation agreements between Spain and countries of origin, such as Mauritania, aimed at intercepting departures. It also reflects changing migration dynamics. The route to the Canary Islands was less used in 2025, while the route to the Balearic Islands became more frequented and increasingly deadly.
On average, eight people per day died this year on maritime routes to Spain. Caminando Fronteras’ latest annual report records 3,090 migrant deaths between January 1 and December 15, 2025. Among the victims were 437 children, 192 women, and 2,461 men. January and February were particularly deadly, accounting for nearly half of the annual toll, with 1,434 deaths recorded during those two months alone.
The NGO’s figures are based on cross-checked testimonies from families and survivors, as well as official data, and include both confirmed deaths and disappearances. At least 70 boats vanished entirely, with all passengers on board never heard from again.
In its report, Caminando Fronteras strongly criticizes rescue operations, stating that “the arbitrary approach to search and rescue has led to delays and inaction, allowing boats that were clearly in danger to sink and causing deaths that could have been avoided.” More broadly, the organization argues that “the main cause of mortality is the impact of migration control policies on the use of search and rescue operations.”
In 2024, at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain, the highest number recorded by Caminando Fronteras since it began collecting data in 2007.
The decline in deaths between 2024 and 2025 is consistent with official data showing a sharp drop in irregular arrivals. Spain’s Ministry of the Interior reports a 40.4% decrease in the number of migrants entering the country irregularly between January 1 and December 15, compared to the same period in 2024. In total, 35,935 arrivals were recorded in 2025, down from 60,311 the previous year.
Fewer arrivals and deaths on the Canary Islands route
However, this overall decline masks very different trends depending on the migration route. Along the Atlantic route, from West Africa to the Canary Islands, Caminando Fronteras recorded 1,906 deaths and disappearances in 2025. The majority of these migrants had departed from Mauritania.
In 2024, the NGO counted 9,757 deaths or disappearances on this route alone, representing almost all maritime deaths linked to Spain that year. The sharp decrease in 2025 is linked to a significant fall in arrivals to the Canary Islands. Just over 17,500 people reached the archipelago in 2025, compared to nearly 47,000 in 2024, according to Spain’s Ministry of the Interior.