The Spanish emergency services announced today, Saturday, the death of 4 migrants who were among more than 700 migrants rescued overnight Friday to Saturday from aboard 4 boats off the coast of El Hierro Island in the Canary Archipelago.

The maritime rescue teams confirmed that they spotted two of the four boats on Friday and escorted them to the port of La Restinga in the south of the small island, which has 11,000 inhabitants, at the far west of the archipelago.

The emergency services also said on the "X" site (formerly Twitter) that 254 migrants were on the two boats, all in good health, including many minors.

Additionally, a third boat with 238 migrants was rescued at dawn on Saturday. Thirteen of them were taken to the hospital, and 2 died despite the care provided to them, according to the emergency services.

Simultaneously, a fourth boat carrying 247 migrants was rescued; 2 of them died before the arrival of ambulance teams, and a third was transported to the hospital.

These migrants arrived while the authorities in the Canary Islands issued a weather warning, mentioning strong winds and waves that could reach a height of "5.5 meters" in some places, according to the emergency services.

Also, according to figures from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, 30,705 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands from the beginning of this year until October 31, more than double the number recorded during the same period in 2022.

About a quarter of them arrived on El Hierro Island, which has recently become the main gateway for entering Spain by sea, while migrants seek to stay as far away as possible from the African coasts to avoid the Coast Guard.