A total of 57,738 people arrived on the Spanish coast from January to December 15, 2024, which is 240 more than in 2018, the ministry said on Monday.
These people reached the country on 1,719 boats, the statement read, adding that 43,737 undocumented migrants landed in the Canary Islands.
Large groups of undocumented immigrants regularly attempt to cross Spain's southern and island borders. The number of undocumented arrivals in the country grew by 85.1% between January 1 and September 15, 2024, year-on-year, according to Spanish Interior Ministry data.
In December 2023, the EU agreed on new rules to handle irregular arrivals. The regulations, known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum, set out a common approach to migration and asylum, including more effective control and accelerated return of asylum seekers to the countries from which they came. The pact also introduced a mandatory solidarity of all EU states, requiring member states to accept undocumented migrants from other EU member states or provide financial or material support to these countries.
The Dublin Regulation, which has been in place since the start of the EU migrant crisis in 2013, is an agreement between the EU member states, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway that is designed to establish which of the EU member states is responsible for examining an individual's asylum application.