The daily arrival of boats is putting pressure on the Balearic Islands, which are rejecting more migrant minors.

BarcelonaMigratory routes to Europe are being reconfigured, and the arrival of small boats has intensified in the Balearic Islands. This phenomenon is not new: it is known as the "balloon effect," meaning that when pressure is placed on a migratory route, the flow of people is not reduced but redirected. The latest report from the Ministry of the Interior confirms that irregular arrivals to Spain have fallen by almost 30% compared to last year, with 22,000 migrants this year, approximately 9,100 fewer. However, while the Canary Islands, historically the epicenter of the migration crisis, have experienced a 46.7% drop, the Balearic Islands have registered a 77% increase.

According to the state report, 1,500 people disembarked on the Balearic coasts in the first two weeks of August alone. Data from the Spanish Government Delegation indicates that 256 boats with 4,819 migrants on board have arrived as of August 23. This unprecedented figure shows that what until now was a secondary route is joining other more closely monitored crossings, such as the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands. But the route to the Balearic Islands is no safer: in recent days, one death and twenty missing people have been confirmed.

In fact, the search continues for twelve missing people after they jumped into the water near Cabrera on Friday from a small boat. The NGO Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) warned that there are at least two other boats that have not reached their destination and whose number of passengers is unknown. The Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) also reports that officers are working shifts of more than 24 hours and that there are serious delays in rescues, such as a small boat detected in Cabrera at 4:30 p.m. that was not rescued until seven hours later, with fourteen occupants in extreme conditions.

Most migrants come from Algeria, hence the so-called "Algerian route," but there are also people from Morocco, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and sub-Saharan Africa, with a predominance of Somalis. The reasons behind this increase are diverse: they may be political, taking into account the differences in border surveillance and control in the country of origin or the relationship with the host country; humanitarian, because the greater the tension or economic hardship, the more people risk leaving their homes and exposing themselves to the dangers of the sea; and social, such as the fact that the existence of this route has become more widely known. However, this does not mean that arrivals to the Canary Islands have ceased, but rather that the Mediterranean route is gaining momentum.

The Balearic government assures that the impact of the almost daily arrivals on the archipelago is very significant, mainly in Mallorca, Ibiza, and Formentera. For President Marga Prohens (PP), this phenomenon is due to Algeria's more permissive attitude toward the departure of small boats from its shores, as well as the ease with which some mafias operate. This, she says, has made the Balearic Islands "the main gateway for irregular immigration" to the European Union, although no state authority officially recognizes it, and has made the situation "completely unsustainable for humanitarian reasons."

Distribution of migrant minors begins

Prohens' main complaint is the lack of resources to manage migrants until the state transfers them to the Peninsula, and therefore calls for further arrivals to be prevented. "The only immigration policy is to prevent them from coming, to act in the country of origin, and to protect the borders," he stated. In this regard, he calls for Europe to activate Frontex in the Balearic Islands to strengthen maritime surveillance.

He also denounces the overcrowding of reception facilities, especially for unaccompanied minors: there are only 56 official places, but more than 600 young people are being accommodated. This year, 300 have arrived, but many children from last year remain in emergency facilities. The infrastructure is overwhelmed, and the government says it is looking for alternatives "where no one would ever deserve to live."

In this regard, Prohens announced on Thursday that it will appeal to the Supreme Court the precautionary suspension of the distribution of the 3,000 minors pending asylum in the Canary Islands and Ceuta, which the Spanish government plans to initiate on August 28. On Tuesday the 26th, a decree on ordinary reception capacity must be approved, a preliminary step to the relocation process, endorsed by the courts and enforceable by the Spanish government.

According to the Canary Islands government, the Balearic Islands' position is "an exercise in irresponsibility and lack of solidarity" on the part of a community that "hosts 5,000 fewer minors than the Canary Islands." "They have 680 minors, and we have more than 5,500," defended Octavio Caraballo, deputy minister of the Cabinet of the President of the Canary Islands. The spokesperson for the Balearic government, Antoni Costa, maintains that the appeal does not seek to halt the distribution, but rather to prevent the Balearic Islands from taking in these 49 minors with only a €2 million contribution, which they consider insufficient.

In response to the Balearic Islands' refusal, the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, accused Prohens of doing so with racist motivations and recalled that he did not attend the last Sectoral Conference on Children, where an extraordinary €22 million fund was to be distributed between the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. Indeed, the meeting was canceled due to a lack of quorum due to the protests of the regions governed by the People's Party (PP). In fact, the mandatory distribution system faces opposition from ten regions with a PP president, as well as Castilla-La Mancha, with a Socialist government. Madrid has also chosen to appeal the latest decrees before the Supreme Court. But the Spanish government emphasizes that while the law is in force, all communities must comply with it and relocate the minors who are eligible.