Seventeen migrants rescued aboard a boat with eight minors in northern Alicante

Maritime Rescue rescued seventeen migrants, including eight minors, from a frail boat in the waters off the coast of northern Alicante province.

There are 17 people of Sub-Saharan ancestry, including two women and eight minors, the youngest of whom is a five-year-old girl.

All are in good health, and only three have sought medical attention from the Red Cross for injuries of different severity.

The Algerian route

Data from the Ca-Minando Fronteras platform report suggest a concerning trend in the first five months of 2025: an increasing number of individuals are dying on the Alicante coast.

This is the result of a shift in migration along the western Euro-African border, which is increasingly looking for entry points via the Spanish Levant and the Balearic Islands.

The death toll in the waters off the southeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula has risen to 328 migrants between January 1st and May 31st, the most recent known period.

Compared to the 175 deaths in the same period last year, this marks an 87% increase in the number of people killed in the Mediterranean. Two people are slain every day on the so-called Algerian route.

This figure represents a shift in the victims’ origins. “The number of people transiting through Algeria has increased significantly, particularly Somali nationals,” says Ca-Minando Fronteras.

The majority of migrants on this journey are from Algeria, but the organisation has documented victims from up to 22 different countries across all routes.

“The increased diversity of nationalities on the route is a result of militarisation and efforts to restrict the Alboran and Strait routes. One of the causes contributing to the recent increase in victims is a paucity of resources dedicated to the search for vessels,” they claim.

Author: Derek Appleton