Two migrants from North Africa were rescued after their boat drifted for 15 days in the Mediterranean Sea. The rescue took place southwest of Mallorca, Spain, at approximately 3:00 AM, at a distance of about 20 to 25 kilometers from the coast.
The two survivors reported that 17 other passengers on their vessel died during the crossing. Following their rescue, both individuals were admitted to a hospital in Mallorca suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
A spokesperson for the regional prefecture of the Balearic Islands in Spain reported that there is no trace of the other 17 passengers aside from the testimony provided by the two survivors. In response to the situation, the Spanish maritime rescue service deployed a helicopter to search the waters southwest of Mallorca.
Separately, the Spanish maritime rescue and the Spanish Civil Guard rescued 15 other migrants from a boat located approximately 55 kilometers southwest of Ibiza, Spain. Additionally, the Spanish Civil Guard reported recovering the bodies of two deceased migrants eight nautical miles southwest of the uninhabited island of Cabrera, Spain.
Marga Prohens, the regional president of the Balearic Islands, called on the central Spanish government in Madrid to develop a specific plan to deal with the migration emergency in the archipelago.
According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, around 4,000 migrants reached the Balearic Islands by sea this year. Specifically, ministry records show 3,864 irregular migrant arrivals in the Balearic Islands between January 1 and July 31, representing a 10% increase compared to the same period in 2025.
The migration pressure is also visible in other Spanish territories. Discrepancies exist regarding the volume of arrivals in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco. German reports indicate that tens of thousands of migrants reached the enclave in a mass rush, whereas French sources report a much higher figure of approximately 750,000 migrants entering the enclave before the vast majority returned to Morocco.
