Over 8,500 migrants reach Spain's Canary Islands in two weeks -ministry data

FILE PHOTO: A group of migrants in a wooden boat are towed by a Spanish coast guard vessel to the port of Arguineguin, in the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Borja Suarez/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - At least 8,561 migrants have reached the Canary Islands over the past two weeks, representing more than a third of this year's total arrivals, data from Spain's interior ministry showed on Monday.

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 of this year, the islands in the Atlantic received 23,537 migrants, an 80% increase from the same period last year, the data showed.