Experts warn of rights violations in cases against captains of migrant boats in Balearics

PalmThe Observatory on Migrations in the Mediterranean (OMIMED) has initiated a collaboration with the Proyecto Patrones, an initiative driven by lawyers and activists specializing in the defense of individuals accused of captaining vessels in the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. The objective is to analyze and improve the legal guarantees for alleged captains prosecuted in Spanish courts, especially in territories like the Balearic Islands, where these types of cases have increased in recent years.

According to data collected by the Patrones Project, in the last decade more than 1,500 people have been accused in Spain of a crime of facilitating irregular immigration provided for in the Penal Code. The proceedings are mainly concentrated in the Canary Islands, Almería, Ceuta, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands. In the Balearic case, the increase in irregular maritime arrivals during the last five years has been accompanied by a notable increase in judicial cases opened against alleged boat skippers. Between 2022 and 2025, a total of 77 people have been accused in the archipelago for this reason.

The study The criminalization of boat skippers in the Spanish State and the Canary Islands, prepared by the Patrones Project in 2025, denounces various irregularities in judicial proceedings. Among other issues, it points to accusations based almost exclusively on protected witnesses, police pressure, irregular confiscation of mobile phones, and deficiencies in legal defense and the availability of adequate interpreters.

The report also questions the prolonged use of preventive detention. In Tenerife, according to the study, during 2023, an average of over 500 days of provisional detention were exceeded in these types of cases. The authors warn that this situation can push many accused individuals to plead guilty to reduce their sentence, even if they maintain their innocence. Lawyers involved in the project also report cases of minors who would have been tried as adults for not having been correctly identified. Furthermore, they recall that the consequences of a conviction do not end with the prison sentence, as criminal records make administrative regularization of the affected individuals difficult for years.

Faced with this reality, OMIMED has decided to promote a specific line of work focused on analyzing the Spanish judicial response to irregular maritime arrivals. The objective is to detect possible rights violations and formulate proposals to strengthen procedural guarantees in these types of proceedings.

The first joint action between the two entities took place on April 21st, during an event held in the Balearic Islands which was attended by Inés Marco, coordinator of the Patrons Project; Marco Aparicio, professor at the University of Girona, and Margalida Capellà, professor at the University of the Balearic Islands and director of OMIMED. During the event, data on irregular maritime arrivals to the Balearic Islands during 2025 were presented, and the difficulties faced by individuals accused of piloting vessels were discussed, within the framework of the criminalization process that, according to the participants, is spreading throughout the European Union.