Spain and EU to sign migration deal with Mauritania as people-smuggling rises

More than 7,000 people used route between west Africa and Canary Islands last month, up from 500 in January last year

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, have flown to Mauritania to sign a series of deals on migration and energy, as data reveals there has been a surge in people-smuggling operations to the Canary Islands.

Figures soon to be published by Frontex, the EU's border agency, are expected to show that the number of people risking their lives by making the perilous journey from west African shores to the Spanish islands has risen dramatically in the past year.