A baby boy was born on board a migrant boat as it makes its way to Spain’s Canary Islands. This marked a dramatic moment during an arduous journey. The Spanish rescue service announced the birth on Wednesday and shared a photo of the newborn, his mother, and other migrants aboard the overcrowded vessel.
The boat was first seen off the island of Lanzarote on January 6, which coincided with Spain’s Epiphany holiday. When rescued, authorities found 60 people aboard, including 14 women and four children. According to the coastguard, both the mother and the baby were in good health.
Captain of the rescue vessel Domingo Trujillo described the surprise discovery. They had been informed that there was a pregnant woman on the boat, but they did not expect the baby to be born just minutes before their arrival. Trujillo added, “I covered him up, took him here (to my chest), and patted him so that he would stop crying.”
Medics advised to fly both mother and child by helicopter to the hospital, while one helicopter commander, Alvaro Serrano Perez, referred to it as “the best gift we could have received” on the day of the Epiphany.
The Canary Islands, it is now confirmed, have become one of the biggest migratory destinations that have been haunting post-independent Africa. Illegal immigrants into Spain in 2024 amounted to 46,843, and this constitutes 73 percent of Spain’s irregular migration. Primarily coming from Mali, Senegal, and Morocco, migrants face terrible conditions as they take the treacherous sea journeys across crowded, unsafe boats.
A recent report from NGO Caminando Fronteras highlighted the perilous nature of these routes, revealing that at least 10,457 migrants died or went missing during sea crossings to Spain in 2024, marking a 50 percent increase from the previous year.
