TIALOUÉ-SUR-MER, Senegal (AP) — When Salamba Ndiaye was 22, he first tried to travel to Spain with dreams of becoming a real estate agent. Without his parents' knowledge, he boarded a small fishing boat called a pirogue, but Senegalese police intercepted him before he could set off.
A year later, Ndiaye tried again and made it out safely, but this time a severe storm forced the ship to anchor in Morocco and Ndiaye and the other passengers were sent back to Senegal.
Despite two failed attempts, the 28-year-old is determined to try again: “If someone told me there was a boat going to Spain right now, I would stop this interview and get on,” she says.
Ndiaye is one of thousands of young Senegalese who try to escape poverty and lack of job opportunities from the West African country to Spain each year, most heading for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of West Africa that is used as a springboard to mainland Europe.
According to statistics released by the Spanish Interior Ministry, more than 22,300 people have landed in the Canary Islands since the beginning of this year, a 126 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The EU signed a 210 million euro deal with Mauritania earlier this year to stop smugglers from setting off on boats to Spain, but the deal has so far had little effect on the influx of migrants.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is visiting Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia this week to tackle illegal migration, with the West African countries being major departure points for migrants travelling by boat.
The Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest in the world, and while the exact death toll is unknown due to a lack of information on departures from West Africa, Spanish migrant rights group Walking Borders estimates that the toll could be in the thousands this year alone.
Migrant boats that go missing or get into trouble often get lost in the Atlantic, sometimes adrift at sea for months, only to be discovered in the Caribbean or Latin America carrying only their bodies.
But the dangers of the route are no deterrent to people like Ndiaye, who are desperate to make a better life for themselves and their families in Europe. “Balsa wala Barsak” – “Barcelona or death” in Wolof, one of Senegal's national languages - is a common motto among those attempting the dangerous route.
“If we stay here we are in danger,” said Cheikh Gueye, 46, a fisherman from Tiarroe-sur-Mer, the same village on the outskirts of Senegal's capital as Ndiaye.
“If you get sick and can't pay for treatment, aren't you in a dangerous situation? So we're on a roll. We either get there or we don't,” he added.
Gueye also attempted to reach Europe via the Atlantic route, but bad weather meant he only made it as far as Morocco and was sent back to Senegal.
Like many in Tiarroy-sur-Mer, he made a decent living as a fisherman until overfishing began to deplete fish stocks 10 years ago.
“These big boats have changed things. Before, even children could catch fish with nets here,” Mr Guey said, pointing to the shallow waters.
“Now we have to go more than 50 kilometres to find fish and even then we only find a few, not enough,” he added.
Gueye and Ndiaye blame a fishing agreement between Senegal, the European Union and China that allows foreign industrial trawlers to fish in Senegalese waters. The agreement limits the amount of fish they can catch, and it has proven difficult to monitor the fish caught by larger European, Chinese and Russian vessels.
Ahead of the Spanish prime minister's visit to Senegal on Wednesday, Ndiaye's mother, Fatou Niang, 67, said the Senegalese and Spanish governments should focus on providing employment opportunities to discourage young people from emigrating from the West African country.
“These kids know nothing but the sea and now there is nothing there. If we do something for the young people, they will stay in the sea,” Nian said.
“But if they weren't, we couldn't get them to stay. There are no jobs here,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Ndaye Sene Mbengue in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.
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