7 August 2008

MADRID - More than a hundred African migrants were being held at a detention centre in Motril, Granada, Wednesday night after two boats turned up on the shores of the southern province in less than 24 hours.

The flood of immigrants, who apparently set off from northern Morocco, exceeded the capacity of Motril's immigrant detention centre, and around 70 are waiting to be moved to Algeciras. Among them are several minors and six babies accompanied by their mothers.

Since the start of the year, 582 migrants have been intercepted attempting to reach the Spanish coast at Granada, though nationwide the number of migrants caught trying to enter the country illegally has declined slightly from 2007.

"We expect the numbers to be reasonable in terms of the number of migrants intercepted," Consuelo Rumí, the secretary of state for immigration, said Wednesday.

In the first six months, the number of migrants caught entering Spain clandestinely fell 7 percent compared to the same period of 2007 and was down 50 percent compared to 2006.

[El Pais / Expatica]