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A wooden boat carrying 38 migrants, including seven children, landed on the southern coast of Portugal on Friday evening, marking a rare arrival point on Europe’s southwest Atlantic coast for those travelling from North Africa. According to Portugal’s GNR police, the vessel reached a beach near the town of Vila do Bispo in the Algarve province at around 8:00pm local time.
Authorities said the group, made up of 25 men, six women and seven minors, appeared to be in poor condition after their journey, showing signs of dehydration and hypothermia. Ten of the migrants were taken to hospital for medical observation.
While officials have not confirmed the nationalities of the passengers or the boat’s point of departure, Portuguese public broadcaster RTP reported that the vessel had set off from Morocco and spent six days at sea before making landfall.
Although hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to southern Europe in recent years, Portugal is not a common destination for such journeys. Arrivals by sea in the country remain rare compared with routes into Spain, Italy or Greece.
