Frontex reports 34% rise in Strait crossings despite missing July Ceuta surge
Frontex says regular migrant entries via the Strait rose 34% this year, a gain that excludes the massive influx that hit Ceuta on July 30.
According to Frontex, regular migrant entries across the Strait of Gibraltar grew by 34% during the reporting period, covering crossings into Ceuta, Melilla, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia. The Spanish interior ministry, led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has not incorporated the large July 30 influx into its figures, prompting the agency to exclude it as well. Consequently, the Strait remains the sole migration corridor with a net increase, outpacing the Canary Islands, which recorded far fewer arrivals in the first eight months. Frontex also highlighted that the central Mediterranean route to Lampedusa and Italy logged just over 19,000 entries, while the Channel between France and the United Kingdom saw 26,587 migrants, a 43% decline from the previous year.
Why it matters
The rise signals shifting migration pressures toward the Strait, affecting EU border management and Spain's immigration policy.
How this story developed
- Sep 7 Fire engulfs dozens of shacks in Ceuta's Tarajal migrant camp
- Sep 8 Alberto Núñez Feijóo says the government will release a trimmed version of the pre-invasion reports on Ceuta, omitting key details.
- Sep 8 The Council of Ministers scheduled a vote on declassification Tuesday, with the documents to be released to the public on Wednesday.
- Sep 10 Government criticized for declassifying security alerts and for claiming the warning was only a low‑level WhatsApp message.
- Sep 10 Judge María Tardón filed a request for copies of the declassified intelligence reports.
- Sep 10 Morocco’s foreign ministry cautioned that Spain’s “strategic blindness” could turn bilateral ties into a source of chronic distrust after the recent Ceuta border breach.
- Sep 10 Regional economy minister asserted that the national government possessed advance intelligence on the Ceuta crossing and did not implement preventive measures.
- Sep 11 Spain's Congress approved citizenship for Sahrawis born under Spanish rule.
- Sep 11 An official investigation into the fire's origin has been opened.
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