Foiled Illegal migration attempts plunge 75% in February in Spain

Spain reported a 75% drop in interceptions of illegal migrants’ arrivals compared to a month earlier period, the interior ministry said.

Only 936 migrants were intercepted last month compared to 4104 people in January, official figures showed.

However, the number of people who made it to Spain was higher in the first two months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

The ministry attributed the drop in interceptions to bad weather conditions and the good coordination with transit and origin countries.

But, it is too early to say that there is a drop of migrant arrivals. A Spanish official told EFE it is too early to announce a general drop in arrivals.

Meanwhile, Oussama El Baroufi of the International Organization for Migration told EFE that Morocco and Spain might have signed a deal to return migrants at sea to the north African Kingdom.

Morocco prevented some 88,000 people from illegally crossing to Spain last year, 37% up from the previous year.