Overview
- Spain’s maritime rescue vessel Diphda located the cayuco 6.4 km from La Restinga on December 31 and brought 180 people ashore.
- The boat had departed Banjul, Gambia, nine days earlier, according to accounts from those on board.
- Among the arrivals were 17 minors and 47 women from Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Guinea-Conakry, with five people taken to hospital.
- The group was moved to the Temporary Center for Foreigners in San Andrés under police custody, with NGO Corazón naranja – Ebrima Sonko providing initial assistance.
- Interior is set to publish official migration figures, a new immigration and asylum regulation takes effect this year, and a separate cayuco carrying 144 people reached El Hierro on January 1 as the first arrival of 2026.