Irregular migration in Spain drops by over 25% in 2022

Spain's irregular migration dropped by 25.6% in 2022, marking the second consecutive year with falling figures and the third in the last four years, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

The figure fell from the previous year's 41,945 arrivals to 31,219, the ministry said in a statement.

It said that arrivals by sea fell across the board on the coasts of the peninsula, Ceuta, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, both in the number of irregular migrants and in the number of boats.

Illegal arrivals by sea also decreased by 27.9%, which represents a reduction of 11,170 people compared to 2021. In the case of boats, the figure dropped to 445, 20.7% less.

The most significant decrease in total numbers occurred in the Canary Islands, where irregular immigrants fell by 6,634, from 22,316 to 15,682, while the drop is even greater when it comes to boats, 35.4%, 192 less than in 2021.

The ministry said the progressive decrease is a result of cooperation with countries of origin and transit of migration, and reinforcing the fight against the mafias that traffic people.

"This double strategy makes it possible to avoid nearly 40 percent of the departures to Spanish territory at origin," it added.