Nearly 800 migrants reached the Canary Islands in just 24-hours earlier this week as the popular tourist destination battles small boat crossings.

On Wednesday, officials reported that the previous 24 hours had seen an influx of 770 migrants, mainly from North Africa, with a high proportion of those being women and children. 

Maritime rescue services had to intercept all of them, which included 73 women and 32 children. They made the perilous crossing in six small canoes and four inflatable boats.

The biggest rescue operation involved a small canoe carrying 143 people (74 men, 47 women, and 22 children) 23 miles off the coast of El Hierro - the farthest south and west Canary Island.

El Hierro saw more rescues of people arriving on small canoes on Tuesday - one involving 75 people in the morning, and another involving 75 people in the afternoon. In total, search and rescue vessels intercepted over 220 people in the area.

Another search and rescue vessel made two interceptions - one involving 73 people off the coast of Lanzarote, and another involving 68 people on its return to the island.

Lanzarote was also the scene of the final rescue of the 24-hour period, involving two inflatable boats carrying 111 people off its east coast.

Most of migrants arriving at the Canary Islands are from North or West Africa and travel along the Atlantic migrant route - the world's deadliest. 

In the last week of December, at least 69 people died after a boat from West Africa capsized off the coast of Morocco.

The Canary Islands also saw a record breaking number of migrant and refugee arrivals in 2024. At least 46,843 people reached them, Spain's interior ministry said.

From January 1 to December 5 last year, at least 10,457 migrants died or went missing while trying to reach spain by sea, according to NGO Caminando Fronteras.

The influx was a result of years of conflict in the Sahel region, unemployment, and the effect of climate change on farming communities.