Mauritania fishing boats falsely portrayed as migrant fleet bound for Spain

Spain’s Canary Islands are facing renewed pressure from migrant arrivals, with local authorities declaring a state of emergency. Against this backdrop, a viral video claims to show thousands of boats in Mauritania amassing at the port, that users said was "ready to set sail" to carry migrants to the archipelago. But the satellite images are misleading: they show a traditional fishing port, not a fleet of migrant vessels. Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.

Spain’s Canary Islands are facing renewed pressure from migrant arrivals, with authorities declaring a migrant emergency this week following a sharp increase in crossings. Against this backdrop, a claim has been spreading rapidly on social media warning of an imminent “invasion” of the archipelago by migrants from Mauritania.

At the centre of the claim is a video showing someone examining satellite images on a mobile phone. The images appear to show thousands of boats packed closely together at the port of Nouadhibou, in northwestern Mauritania.

Multiple social media users have presented the footage as “proof” that thousands of migrant boats are preparing to set sail towards the Spanish coast. One post, which described the images as “irrefutable evidence” of an imminent mass crossing, attracted more than 1.5 million views in just 48 hours.

But while the satellite images are genuine, the claims being made about them are misleading.

Using Google Earth, we were able to verify the exact location shown in the video: the port of Nouadhibou, a coastal city in Mauritania. However, checking the dates of the satellite imagery revealed that the images being shared online actually date back to March 2025. They are not recent images showing boats gathering ahead of a mass departure.

In fact, looking further back through satellite imagery, we found similar concentrations of boats in exactly the same location dating back to 2013 and even 2005.

There is a straightforward explanation: the images show a traditional fishing port.

According to Mauritania’s tourism ministry, the port supports thousands of families and supplies local markets with fish. The boats visible in the viral images are fishing vessels, not a fleet of migrant boats preparing to cross the Atlantic.

Nor is this the first time such claims have circulated online. Similar videos alleging that thousands of boats at the Nouadhiboy port are gathering for a mass crossing have been shared since at least 2020. Spanish fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked these claims.

A real migration route, but misleading images

Mauritania is nevertheless an important departure and transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe through West Africa. Nouadhibou has been identified as a key transit location by the UN's International Organization for Migration, while the European Union has also established a partnership with Mauritania aimed at curbing irregular migration, including departures by boat towards the Canary Islands.

In late October and early November, hundreds of people travelling in overcrowded boats were rescued by the Mauritanian navy off the coast of Nouadhibou. However, there is no evidence that these people departed from the fishing port featured in the viral video.

Meanwhile, the Canary Islands are facing genuine pressure from increased migrant arrivals. Thousands of people have reached the Spanish archipelago in recent weeks, particularly the island of El Hierro, where local authorities have declared a state of emergency.

The migration situation is therefore real, but the viral footage does not provide evidence of a coordinated mass departure from Mauritania. Instead, authentic satellite images of a traditional fishing port have been taken out of context and presented online as proof of an imminent migrant crossing to Spain.