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15 August 2007
MADRID (AFP) – More than 60 would-be immigrants have been caught in the past week along the south-eastern Spanish coast of Murcia which had so far been ignored by illegal border-crossers, officials said on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, a boat ferrying 12 Algerians was apprehended as it docked near the port of Cartagena, and 61 clandestine immigrants have been caught since Thursday, a spokesman for the local administration told AFP.
“Illegal immigrants never arrived here unless it was in exceptional circumstances,” he said.
According to Spain’s interior ministry, 6,306 illegal immigrants arrived in the first quarter this year – a 55 percent decrease over the corresponding period last year.
More than 31,200 immigrants arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands off western Africa last year, more than tripling the previous annual record and overwhelming the island chain’s authorities.
(Copyright AFP with Expatica 2007)
Subject: Spanish news