Andalucia is now the frontline of Europe’s war on drugs, according to a report by Spain’s Prosecutor General.
The worrying document says the dramatic rise in high-speed narco-boats and clandestine hideouts known as guarderias, aka safe houses, poses an ‘open challenge to the State.’
In its 2024 annual report, the Fiscalia General del Estado stresses that criminal groups are using guarderias not only to store drugs but also to shelter migrants, particularly from Algeria, before transporting them inland.
‘Andalucía is without doubt the most pointed-at region, due to the lamentable and highly visible spectacle of narco-boats,’ the report states.
Narco-boats on the Guadalquivir
The report describes with alarm the way high-speed boats – technically banned vessels – now operate well beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, reaching into the coasts of Cadiz, Huelva, Almeria and even up the Guadalquivir river.
Prosecutors warn these boats are increasingly being used not just for hashish but for large cocaine shipments.
The Fiscalia recalls the killing of two Guardia Civil officers in Barbate in February 2024 after being rammed by a narco-boat, as well as multiple fatalities among traffickers themselves.
Between December 2024 and January 2025 alone, authorities intercepted 10 tonnes of cocaine in areas near the Guadalquivir, cementing the river as a new entry route for drugs bound for the rest of Europe.
Surge in cases in Malaga
Judicial procedures for drug trafficking are also on the rise, with Malaga recording a 28.6% increase in 2024 compared with the previous year.
The province now ranks third in Spain – behind only Madrid and Barcelona – for total drug-related proceedings.
Migrant routes and guarderias
The report highlights a growing trend of smuggling networks linking drug trafficking with irregular migration.
Organisations increasingly depart from Spanish shores, sail to Algeria to collect migrants, and then return – often carrying narcotics as well.
So-called guarderías – stash houses used to conceal migrants, traffickers and their boats – are proliferating across Andalucia.
‘A significant part of these criminal organisations is now based in Spain,’ the report says, adding that the groups are deeply interconnected with counterparts in Algeria and other destination countries.
Expanding methods
The Fiscalía warns of a shift from small pateras to more sophisticated fishing boats capable of carrying larger groups of migrants in one trip.
Prosecutors in Cadiz also flagged new tactics such as hiding migrants in empty lorries departing from Ceuta, before unloading them in Algeciras to be driven elsewhere in Spain.
The report concludes that the combined rise of narco-boats, violent trafficking groups and cross-border smuggling networks ‘requires a firm and coordinated response’ to protect both Spain’s borders and its security forces.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
