Madar (Nouakchott) - Mauritania's Minister of Fisheries and Maritime and Port Infrastructure, Aissata Lam, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, discussed with Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska strengthening cooperation on monitoring maritime waters and fighting irregular migration, Sahara Medias reported, citing the ministry, as part of the Spanish minister's one-day official visit to Nouakchott.
The ministry said the meeting covered developing joint working mechanisms and widening bilateral cooperation, adding that the Spanish minister praised the Mauritanian coast guard's role in monitoring maritime waters and protecting the coastline.
The visit's programme goes beyond the interior ministry: according to journalist Mohamed Lemine Khattari, citing sources in the Spanish government, it includes a meeting with Interior Minister Mokhtar Ahmed Bousseif, then the fisheries minister, Defence Minister Ba Ousmane, and talks with President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani in the afternoon.
Renewed pressure on the Canary route
The visit comes as the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands has picked up since the end of the summer: the islands recorded 4,162 arrivals between August 16 and October 15, up 159% on a year earlier, according to Spain's interior ministry, although the total since January remains 33.5% lower. Spain's maritime rescue service rescued 163 migrants in three boats on Monday night.
According to press data compiled by Khattari, more than 5,000 people reached the Canaries in October; of 52 boats that arrived during the month, 39 came from Senegal and Gambia, 11 from Morocco and one from Mauritania. The International Organization for Migration has said arrivals on the Atlantic route fell 65% between 2024 and 2025, partly because departure points shifted south after tighter controls on the Mauritanian, Moroccan and Senegalese coasts.
From Madrid to Nouakchott
The visit comes about a year after then interior minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine held talks with Grande-Marlaska in Madrid in October 2025 on security, migration and cross-border organised crime; the Spanish minister said at the time that cooperation had foiled about 3,500 irregular migration attempts in 2025 and more than 10,000 in 2024.
It is not Grande-Marlaska's first visit to Nouakchott: in November 2022 he signed a security cooperation agreement with his Mauritanian counterpart providing logistical and technical means against irregular migration and trafficking, as well as training, and discussed defence cooperation with then defence minister Hanena Ould Sidi. In October 2023 he met President Ghazouani alongside the European Commission vice-president, calling Mauritania a "strategic partner."
In March 2024 he was part of the European delegation in Nouakchott for the signing of a joint declaration between Mauritania and the European Union establishing a migration partnership, which includes tackling root causes through development projects and jobs for young people.
Intertwined interests
Cooperation between the two countries extends beyond migration to a security partnership against growing threats in the region, fisheries and coastal surveillance, and the agreements signed between Mauritania and the European Union, which explains why the visit's programme widened to include the fisheries and defence ministries.
