The migratory flow in Malaga has dropped considerably in recent years, from 5,630 in 2018 to 231 in 2021 and just 69 this year.
Over the past four years, the number of migrants arriving on makeshift boats on the Malaga coast has fallen sharply. This is due to the measures taken by the Moroccan government to limit illegal immigration through the strait, the shortest and least dangerous route for would-be immigrants. Increasingly, migrants are coming from sub-Saharan Africa and Algeria to the Canary Islands or Almeria reports Malaga Hoy. For an association manager, “Morocco opens and closes the floodgates of irregular immigration”.
Some analyze Morocco’s new migration policy as a return of the elevator to Spain after its change of position on the Sahara. In any case, the decrease in the migratory flow is significant. This is evidenced by the data provided by the government sub-delegation. From 5,630 in 2018, the number of migrants arriving in Malaga rose to 2,150 in 2019, then to 941 in 2020, and to 231 in 2021. This year, only 69 have arrived on the coast of Malaga.
In 2018 and 2019, the situation was dramatic. The courtyards of the sports centers were transformed into reception centers for migrants by the Red Cross. Lawyers, police, and human rights NGOs have denounced these degrading reception conditions for migrants. Following these denunciations, a humanitarian base was set up by the Red Cross in the port area to take care of migrants as soon as they arrive, before transferring them to the new Temporary Attention Center for Foreigners (CATE) for formalities relating to documentation.
Then, the migrants are taken to the Emergency Accommodation and Orientation Center (CAED) which has a capacity of 220 people. The Deputy Government Delegate, Javier Salas, stressed that the central government “is sensitive to the migration issue”, recalling that Malaga is the gateway to Europe. “It is, therefore, a question that must be addressed at the European level, to avoid once and for all the loss of human life of these migrants in search of a better future”, he underlines.
