(AFP) The number of migrants arriving illegally in Spain dropped by more than a quarter in 2022 over the previous year, mainly due to a fall in sea crossings, the interior ministry said Tuesday.
A total of 31,219 people entered Spain without permission last year, down from 41,945 in 2021 — a drop of 25.6 percent and a second straight yearly decline, the ministry said in its annual migration report.
The interior ministry credited “cooperation with countries of origin and transit” of migrants, and the reinforcement of the fight “against mafias that traffic people” for the fall.
Migrant arrivals by sea decreased across the country but the most significant fall occurred in Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic off northwest Africa.
