La Restinga, Spain, (EFE).- More than 400 migrants arrived on Thursday in the Spanish town of La Restinga aboard four rafts (cayucos) that had set out from the African coast. According to the Maritime Rescue Service and emergency services, the migrants landed on El Hierro, an Atlantic island.
The last raft was spotted near the island with between 130 and 150 people on board. This brings the total number of people who landed on El Hierro on Thursday to over 400.
The Maritime Rescue Service detected the rickety boat at sea and contacted a merchant ship sailing in the area. The merchant ship maintained visual contact with the raft until the arrival of a Maritime Rescue vessel, now escorting the boat to port. Therefore, the final migrant count is still pending.
Three previous boats carried 235 men, 25 women, and 25 minors who had set sail from Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania.
The third boat entered the port of La Restinga at 3:20 pm local time, accompanied by a rescue vessel carrying 33 Senegalese men, 14 of whom were minors. They reported departing four days earlier from Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania.
Shortly before that, the raft arrived with 190 people on board, accompanied by another Maritime Rescue vessel after a seven-day voyage from Tanji in The Gambia.
The makeshift vessel carried 160 men, 22 women, and eight minors from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Conakry.
Two people required medical attention at the island’s only public hospital, which serves a population of just over 12,000.
The first arrival of the day occurred around 1:30 pm local time when a raft carrying 62 people, including three women and three minors, sailed into La Restinga under its own power.
The migrants said they were from Senegal, Mali, The Gambia, and Guinea-Conakry, and had left Saint Louis, Senegal, seven days earlier. According to emergency services, all were in good health.
From Aug. 16 to Oct. 15, 2026, a total of 4,162 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands (where El Hierro is located) aboard makeshift boats, according to biweekly data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior.
This figure represents a 159% increase compared to the 1,608 migrants who arrived during the same period in 2025.
However, the sharp decline in arrivals during the first half of 2026 means that the overall total since Jan. 1 continues to decrease: There have been 8,970 arrivals compared to 13,491 in 2025.EFE
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