Overview
- Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska met Algerian counterpart Said Sayoud in Algiers and pledged tighter joint action against trafficking networks, including limits on fast boats and stronger checks on document fraud.
- Both sides will relaunch the 2002 return agreement through a mixed technical commission tasked with assessing updates to improve its effectiveness.
- The cooperation package includes intensified information exchange between security services and shared operational protocols targeting organized crime linked to irregular migration.
- Official data show a 75% year-to-date rise in irregular arrivals to the Balearic Islands to 6,104 through October 15, while nationwide arrivals fell 35.9% and arrivals to the Canary Islands dropped 59%.
- UNHCR reports that most people reaching southern Spain and the Balearics through August 31 came from Algeria (52.5%), Morocco (16.9%) and Somalia (11.8%), as Spain also cites Mauritania’s interceptions and Algeria’s 30,000 blocked departures in 2024 as evidence prevention at source works.