More than 3,000 people died in 2025 attempting to reach Spanish shores by sea, according to a new annual report, marking a tragic chapter in the ongoing Mediterranean and Atlantic migration crisis. The Spanish non-governmental organisation Caminando Fronteras recorded 3,090 deaths between January and mid-December this year, a figure that, while markedly lower than the unprecedented toll of 10,457 deaths recorded in 2024, underscores the sustained risk faced by migrants making dangerous crossings in search of safety and opportunity in Europe.
The death toll includes 192 women and 437 children, highlighting the vulnerability of entire families who embark on these hazardous voyages. The victims originated from at least 30 countries across West and North Africa as well as South and West Asia, including Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq and Egypt, reflecting the broad geographic scope of the crisis.
Most fatalities occurred on the Atlantic route from North Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, one of the world’s deadliest migration pathways. This crossing, which can stretch for up to 12 days in often treacherous waters on unseaworthy vessels, accounted for 1,906 of the recorded deaths, according to the report. Another 1,037 lives were lost along the increasingly frequented Western Mediterranean route from Algeria to the Balearic Islands, which has seen a surge in boat departures in 2025.
In addition to these tragic counts, at least 70 boats were recorded as vanishing without a trace this year, presumed lost at sea with all passengers on board. The organisation’s data also point to rising numbers of small-boat departures from Guinea to the Canary Islands, a new and longer route that has emerged as migrants attempt to circumvent fortified borders, often at greater peril.
Spanish government figures show a substantial drop in irregular arrivals, with around 35,935 migrants reaching Spain by sea and land up to mid-December, compared with more than 60,000 over the same period in 2024. Authorities and analysts attribute the decline in part to stricter border enforcement and enhanced cooperation with countries such as Mauritania, which signed an EU-funded migration control deal in 2024 aimed at reducing departures.
However, migrant rights groups caution that the reduced number of arrivals does not indicate safer conditions. Instead, they argue that tougher border policies have pushed people toward more hazardous routes and overwhelmed available search-and-rescue capacities. Reports of delayed rescue operations, inadequate distress response, and insufficient international coordination have raised serious concerns about the humanitarian impact of externalising border controls to countries with limited resources.
Critics also point to alleged human rights abuses against migrants in transit countries, including claims of violence and mistreatment by authorities in Mauritania, which the government has denied. Supporters of tougher migration policies argue such measures are necessary to curb irregular migration flows, but rights advocates counter that they undermine fundamental protections and contribute to needless loss of life.
Despite the decline in deaths relative to 2024, the 2025 figures lay bare the ongoing peril faced by migrants seeking refuge or improved livelihoods. The continuing loss of life at sea underscores the complex interplay of desperation, policy, and peril that defines the current era of global migration.
