The Balearic Government has raised the alarm at the beginning of a new year that repeats the pattern of 2025 in terms of migration: a sustained arrival of small boats to the coasts of the archipelago, especially in Ibiza and Formentera, where almost half of the landings have been recorded.
In just a few days, 147 people have reached the islands in an irregular manner, which has collapsed the resources of humanitarian care and protection of minors, already saturated at the close of the previous year.
During a balance offered this week, the general director of Immigration of the Govern, Manuel Pavón, warned that “everything points to the fact that 2026 may register a new record of irregular immigration arrivals”, surpassing even the figures of the previous year.
According to statements reported by El Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera, Pavón was not optimistic about the evolution of the situation and demanded urgent measures from the State.
“These are not one-off or conjunctural episodes, but a fully established migratory route between Algeria and the islands,” Pavón warned.
The Pitiusas Islands, hot spot on the Algerian route
The migratory route between Algeria and the Balearic Islands has become an active, stable and increasingly used route. Only in the Pitiusas four boats with 65 people have been intercepted in the first days of the year.
These figures, according to the Govern, confirm the structural nature of the phenomenon, which is putting increasing pressure on public services, especially on the smaller islands.
As La Voz de Ibiza advanced, as a whole, the Balearic Islands received during the whole year 397 pateras with 7,279 immigrants in 2025, compared to the 5,846 registered in 2024.A figure that contrasts with the barely 20 entries registered in 2016.
For Pavón, the data “speak for themselves” and and show the need for a coordinated coordinated response at the national and international level..
Government accused of “inaction” on migration crisis
Despite the fact that border management is not an autonomous competence, the Balearic Government insists on its duty to demand effective measures from the central Executive.
Pavón denounced the “inaction” of the Spanish government, which in his opinion “favors the business of mafias and criminal organizations”, as he told Periódico de Ibiza.
In addition to the humanitarian impact, the Govern warned about the economic cost of the removal and treatment of the boats, which is around 600 euros per boat. In 2025 alone, some 400 boats were counted, with a cost that has fallen, according to the Government, on the regional public coffers.
“This expense is borne by all taxpayers,” said Pavón, who urged the President of the Government, the Minister of the Interior and the Government Delegate in the Balearic Islands to act “once and for all”.
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