Frontex reinforces support to Spain as summer crossings peak at the Strait of Gibraltar

Frontex has deployed border officers to three southern Spanish ports to help manage one of Europe's largest seasonal movements of people, as millions of travellers cross the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco over the summer months. The deployment supports Spain's Policía Nacional at BCP Algeciras, BCP Tarifa and Ceuta seaport as part of the annual operation known as Minerva.

The operation runs throughout the summer season, when passenger and vehicle traffic between Spain and Morocco rises sharply. Last year, more than 3.2 million passengers and 700,000 vehicles passed through the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa in the first seven months alone, a record. This year, more than 100 officers from Frontex, Spanish authorities and various EU Member States are deployed across the three ports.

The operation has four main goals:

• keeping legal crossings moving and reducing queues during the busiest weeks

• strengthening security at the EU's external border

• detecting and preventing irregular migration

• tackling cross-border crime, including human trafficking, drug smuggling and vehicle theft

"Every summer, millions of people crossthe Strait to visit family, take holidaysor do business. Our job is to help that happen smoothly and safely, and to make sure the criminals who try to exploit the busy season have nowhere to hide. That is what our officers, working side by side with their Spanish colleagues, are here to do," said Marco Fantinato, Commander of Frontex Contingent 5.

Officers deployed in the operation work under the command and authority of the Spanish national authorities. Frontex provides operational support and specialist expertise. The operation forms part of Frontex's wider support to EU Member States along the Western Mediterranean route, one of the main migratory routes into Europe.

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