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Baby Girl Is Born On Packed Migrant Boat Heading To Spain: Mother And Child Are Recovering In Lanzarote – Olive Press News Spain

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A NEWBORN baby is recovering in a Spanish hospital after being born on a packed migrant boat en route to Spain.

The girl and mother remain at the Molina Orosa University Hospital in Lanzarote where they are being treated with antibiotics, reports Reuters.

They had been heading on a dinghy from Morocco to Lanzarote when the mother suddenly went into to labour.

The boat was carrying 60 migrants – including 14 women and four children – from the North African province of Tan-Tan, some 135 nautical miles southeast of the Canary island.

Cristina Ruiz, spokeswoman for the regional government, said the mother and child will be moved to a humanitarian centre after treatment, before most likely being sent to a specialised reception centre for young children and mothers.

Domingo Trujillo, captain of the Spanish rescue ship, told EFE: “The baby was crying, which indicated to us that it was alive and there were no problems, and we asked the woman’s permission to undress her and clean her.

“The umbilical cord had already been cut by one of her fellow passengers. The only thing we did was to check the child, give her to her mother and wrap them up for the trip.”

It comes after a report last month said 10,400 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in 2024, an average of 30 per day, according to migrant organisation Caminando Fronteras.

The overall death toll rose by 58% compared to last year, the report added.

READ MORE: Warning for boat owners on Spain’s Costa del Sol following string of thefts by migrant smugglers

Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands which has been increasingly used as a stepping stone to get asylum in mainland Spain and the rest of Europe.

Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until December 15 took place along the so-called Atlantic route — considered one of the world’s most dangerous.

The organisation compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued.

It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead with April and May the deadliest months, according to the report.

Caminando Fronteras also noted a ‘sharp increase’ in 2024 in boats leaving from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point on the route to the Canaries.

In February, Spain pledged €210 million in aid to Mauritania to help it crack down on human smugglers and stop boat journeys.

Spain’s interior ministry says more than 57 700 migrants reached Spain by boat up to December 15 last year – a roughly 12% increase on the same period in 2023.

Canary Islands

Ryanair claims €15,000 from ‘disruptive’ passenger who forced diversion of holiday flight to Spain

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BUDGET airline Ryanair says it will take ‘disruptive’ passengers to court in a ‘major clampdown’ following an incident last year on a flight between Dublin and Lanzarote in Spain’s Canary Islands.

The operator is claiming €15,000 in damages against a passenger who forced the plane to divert to Porto.

Ryanair argues that the plane was delayed overnight and caused 160 passengers to ‘face unnecessary disruption as well as losing a full day of their holiday’.

READ MORE:

Ryanair to expand in Spain: Budget airline plans for five new bases in the country|

The carrier described the passenger’s behaviour as ‘inexcusable’ and ‘completely unacceptable’.

It calculated the €15,000 sum based on the cost of overnight accommodation, passenger expenses, and landing costs.

Ryanair said it has a strict zero-tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct, adding it ‘will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour on aircraft’.

A spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that passengers – many of whom are heading away with family or friends to enjoy a relaxing summer holiday – are suffering unnecessary disruption and reduced holiday time as a result of one unruly passenger’s behaviour.”

He added that the company hopes that civil proceedings in a court will deter further disruptive behaviour on flights.

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Barcelona

Spain’s ‘saturated’ holiday destinations to avoid in 2025, according to prestigious tourism guide

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THREE popular Spanish holiday areas have been put on a list of ‘forbidden destinations’ by a prestigious travel guide due to tourist saturation.

Fodors 2025 ‘forbidden’ list includes Mallorca, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands.

Venice, Tokyo, and Bali are also featured by the guide’s editors.

READ MORE:

ANTI-TOURIST PROTEST, BARCELONA

Mallorca had previously been included on the list in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The island is described as a destination of ‘unsustainable popularity’.

All of the Spanish locations have been described as ‘coveted tourist spots which are collapsing under the weight of their own prominence”,

“Governments tend to prioritise visitor experiences over the well-being of local residents,” said Fodors.

“Touring cities full of tourists is frustrating; Sightseeing in villages where locals resent your presence is disturbing and wandering through nature plagued by garbage is depressing,” the editors added.

“The destinations on the list of ‘forbidden’ places deserve the fame and adoration they receive and they are worthy of thei time and money,” the guide acknowledges.

The Fodors editors however warn that visiting these places ‘rarely results in happy travellers’, due to tourist saturation.

All three Spanish black-listed areas saw massive protests against saturation last year.

Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni announced that tourist flats will be outlawed by November 2028 in an attempt to relieve the city’s housing crisis which has seen rental prices surge by over 70% in just a decade.

Protestors had argued that short-term rentals, such as tourist apartments offered by Airbnb, take up valuable housing stock and drive up prices, forcing many locals to leave the city centre for the suburbs or nearby towns.

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