MADRID (Reuters) - The number of migrants reaching Spain's Canary Islands on precarious vessels from West Africa has hit an all-time annual record with 41,425 arrivals between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year, Interior Ministry data showed on Monday.
The seven islands off northwestern Africa's Atlantic coast are struggling to absorb the surge in irregular migrants arriving on crammed, open-topped boats seeking better opportunities in Europe.
With one month of 2024 still pending, this is the second year in a row that the archipelago, a front line in Europe's struggle to curb migration, has seen a record number.
Mali, Senegal and Morocco were the top three nationalities of migrants reaching the Canaries, according to latest data until October from the European Union's border agency Frontex.
Seeking to revert the trend, Spain has asked Frontex to resume an air and maritime surveillance operation that had ended in 2018 in Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia.
Last year, 39,910 migrants arrived, surpassing the previous record in 2006.
Between January and October, the Canaries registered the fastest increase in arrivals by sea in the EU, even as illegal migrant arrivals in the bloc slumped overall, Frontex data showed.
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Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
The European Union will disburse €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) to Ukraine for missiles and drones, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgrades, along with related equipment and services, the department said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least 10 people had died in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
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Denmark and Greenland have moved to reassure the public that their sovereignty will remain intact under a new security agreement with the United States.
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