PALMA, Spain (BN24) — Spanish authorities have opened a homicide investigation after multiple bound bodies were discovered in the Mediterranean Sea, raising fears of possible foul play linked to migrant smuggling routes from North Africa.
Since mid-May, at least five corpses with hands and feet tied have been recovered by Civil Guard patrol boats off the coast of Spain’s Balearic Islands, according to regional newspaper Diario de Mallorca. The grim findings have prompted the Guardia Civil to launch a full probe into what officials suspect could be a deliberate act of violence at sea.
Investigators believe the victims may have been migrants thrown overboard—bound and alive—following a dispute with smugglers during an illegal crossing attempt. “We are treating this as a suspected case of homicide,” a spokesperson for the Civil Guard told Agence France-Presse. Authorities are working to determine the identities of the deceased and the precise circumstances of their deaths.
Marga Prohens, the president of the Balearic Islands, described the situation as exposing “the cruelest side” of irregular migration routes. She called for urgent European cooperation to address the growing humanitarian crisis off Spain’s Mediterranean coast.
While the majority of Spain-bound migrants arrive via the longer but heavily trafficked route through the Canary Islands, hundreds continue to risk the shorter but deadly journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa to the Balearics.
According to figures reported by the Majorca Daily Bulletin, at least 31 bodies have been discovered in Balearic waters and beaches between January and June 2025 alone.
The Mediterranean remains the deadliest migration route in the world. The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded 8,542 migrant deaths globally in 2023—more than a third of them in the Mediterranean.
