Spain’s Interior Ministry has released its year-end migration balance showing that 36,775 irregular migrants reached Spanish territory in 2025—down from 64,019 in 2024, a drop of 42.6 %. The steepest fall (-62 %) was on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, long the busiest and deadliest corridor. Officials credit intensified joint patrols and readmission agreements with Morocco and Mauritania for the decline.
Under the bilateral ‘Atlantic-Canarias’ action plan, Spain supplies patrol boats, satellite imagery and training, while Rabat and Nouakchott commit to dismantling smuggling networks and accepting return flights. EU funding worth €240 million to Mauritania, finalised in mid-2025, helped finance coastal radar upgrades and migrant-reception centres that process those rescued at sea.
Travel logistics for migrants who shift into regular pathways—and for employers that sponsor them—can be complex. VisaHQ simplifies Spanish visa and work-permit applications by offering online document checks, appointment scheduling and up-to-date guidance on entry requirements, all accessible at https://www.visahq.com/spain/.
![Spain reports 42.6 % drop in irregular migrant arrivals in 2025 after deeper cooperation with Morocco and Mauritania]()
Not all routes cooled. Arrivals to the Balearic Islands rose 24 %, and land crossings at Melilla increased 181 %, illustrating how enforcement pressure can displace flows rather than end them. NGOs warn that smaller boats are now using more dangerous western-Mediterranean corridors lacking rescue coverage, raising the risk of fatalities.
Business implications: Fewer boat arrivals translate into less strain on reception facilities in the Canaries, where hotels were requisitioned in 2024 to house migrants. Employers in agriculture and hospitality may see tighter local labour pools and could need to rely more on formal seasonal-worker schemes (GECCO) or the revised ‘arraigo para la formación’ pathway introduced in 2025.
Policy outlook: Madrid plans to renew the Morocco migration memorandum in March 2026, potentially tying development aid to further reductions. The Interior Ministry also confirmed that an additional 550 Guardia Civil officers will be redeployed to Mallorca and Ibiza ahead of the summer season to monitor the emerging Balearics route.
Under the bilateral ‘Atlantic-Canarias’ action plan, Spain supplies patrol boats, satellite imagery and training, while Rabat and Nouakchott commit to dismantling smuggling networks and accepting return flights. EU funding worth €240 million to Mauritania, finalised in mid-2025, helped finance coastal radar upgrades and migrant-reception centres that process those rescued at sea.
Travel logistics for migrants who shift into regular pathways—and for employers that sponsor them—can be complex. VisaHQ simplifies Spanish visa and work-permit applications by offering online document checks, appointment scheduling and up-to-date guidance on entry requirements, all accessible at https://www.visahq.com/spain/.
Not all routes cooled. Arrivals to the Balearic Islands rose 24 %, and land crossings at Melilla increased 181 %, illustrating how enforcement pressure can displace flows rather than end them. NGOs warn that smaller boats are now using more dangerous western-Mediterranean corridors lacking rescue coverage, raising the risk of fatalities.
Business implications: Fewer boat arrivals translate into less strain on reception facilities in the Canaries, where hotels were requisitioned in 2024 to house migrants. Employers in agriculture and hospitality may see tighter local labour pools and could need to rely more on formal seasonal-worker schemes (GECCO) or the revised ‘arraigo para la formación’ pathway introduced in 2025.
Policy outlook: Madrid plans to renew the Morocco migration memorandum in March 2026, potentially tying development aid to further reductions. The Interior Ministry also confirmed that an additional 550 Guardia Civil officers will be redeployed to Mallorca and Ibiza ahead of the summer season to monitor the emerging Balearics route.
