Marked with a white plaster: this is how migrants from the Balearic Islands are sent to Barcelona

BarcelonaThe one from Africa to the The Balearic Islands are the fastest growing migratory route. and turns the archipelago into one of the gateways for irregular immigration. Without any possibility of doing so legally, and with intensified military and police controls on the Canary Islands route, more and more migrants are seeking alternatives to reach European territory. The number of small boats arriving to the islands from the coast of Algeria has increased by 84% in the first nine months of the year, while boat arrivals to Spain have decreased by 38%. The islands already represent 23% of total arrivals, when seven years ago that percentage was a residual 0.4%, according to the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior.

With this increase, the origin of those disembarking has also changed. While recently they were mostly people from the Maghreb, there are increasingly more from countries at war. Between January and August 2025 alone, 1,190 Somalis arrived via this route, a group with an asylum recognition rate of 98%.

However, the initial reception system in the Balearic Islands is very deficient and is not prepared to identify these people, process their asylum applications, and provide them with initial medical assistance to address the state of vulnerability in which they arrive, according to a report by the organizations Irídia and Novact presented this Thursday. Both human rights organizations denounce a completely overwhelmed system, with few personnel and resources, and violations of migrants' rights throughout the migration process, from arrivals by sea to the islands, to transfer and reception in Barcelona, and police control at the French border.

Marked with a number

When a boat is rescued, the Civil Guard waits for its occupants at the port to "systematically" carry out an identification that "attacks the moral integrity" of the people, they denounce. Even with their clothes soaked from the journey and without any medical attention, the officers write a number on the skin of the migrants' hand or arm – in a visible place – whose white plaster cannot be easily erased; a practice that the Ombudsman already demanded be stopped 15 years ago because it stigmatizes and dehumanizes these people.

They are then transferred in vans to the Foreigner Assistance Center (CATE), where they are imprisoned and at the disposal of the National Police for the next 72 hours. Since 2022, 12,397 people have been detained at the Son Tous center. The serious thing is that they have entered 1,168 minors, a group that enjoys special protection which prevents them from being interned and deprived of their freedom.

Most of the adults are released and taken to the Maritime Station for embark for Barcelona or Valencia, often without telling them anything about where they are going or what they should do when they arrive. In the case of highly vulnerable people or women with children, they are only referred to special centers if there are places available, which usually doesn't happen. The ferry ride is free because, according to a non-public agreement between the administration and the company Baleària, migrants can obtain a ticket with notification of their return to their country.

The organizations complain that they are not offered the possibility of contacting family members to notify them that they have arrived safely, and that people who require specific care are neglected. Everyone boards, except for minors identified as such, who remain under the guardianship of the Balearic Government. However, as is the case in the Canary Islands, many of these adolescents claim they are of legal age to avoid being stranded on the island and be able to continue their journey, as family members or friends are often waiting for them in third countries in Europe.

Without help in Barcelona

Upon arrival in Valencia or Barcelona, ​​adult migrants must find a way to survive because they are not allowed into the humanitarian protection system. to minors who, once on the Peninsula, claim protection, the entities have also noted that they continue to be made unreliable age determination tests about minors with legal passports and who are often left out of the system. There is a lack of places to accommodate these children, who are left directly out in the cold, the authors say, and thus violating children's rights.

The third focus of the report is the Catalan-French border: in Portbou, La Jonquera, and Figueres, dozens of migrants arrive crossing into Europe and encounter police checkpoints or on trains with "racial identification" that prevents them from continuing their journey. In this way, the Empordà acts as a funnel, a containment point for migrants, who, to avoid being expelled from trains, choose to walk in the middle of the tracks or inside tunnels, with the life-threatening danger that this entails. In fact, several deaths from being run over have been documented. French police also carry out border checks and carry out "hot returns, without any type of procedure," even of injured or sick people. According to the study, migrants report mistreatment by the French police. In this regard, the report's authors lament that, despite Catalonia being part of the migration route to northern countries, it lacks official resources, and this "institutional vacuum" is often filled by well-intentioned entities and citizens.