ARCHIVED - Steady flow of irregular migrant boats to Murcia over the weekend
Boats were intercepted in Cabo de Palos and Águilas
The good weather and calm sailing conditions brought a steady trickle of immigrant boats to the Murcian coastline, a situation which was mirrored in neighbouring Almería province and in Alicante province.
On Sunday a boat with 19 males on board was intercepted off the coast of Cabo de Palos, and later in the day 12 Algerians reached the beach of Cabo Cope in Águilas.
Two further boats were intercepted in the early hours of Monday morning: the first at just after midnight which was six nautical miles from the coast of Cabo de Palos and contained nine males; the second was sighted at 01:10 in roughly the same position, with ten males on board.
In both cases the passengers were of Algerian nationality and were taken to the Escombreras docks in Cartagena for a medical check-up and Covid testing, courtesy of Cruz Roja.
Last weekend 43 migrants arrived in five boats on Friday in the waters of Águilas and Cartagena, 13 reached Mazarrón on Saturday and a further 26 reached the Cartagena coastline on Sunday.
This weekend a boat containing 11 migrants reached the Calpe coast in Alicante province and in Almería 65 migrants were intercepted over the weekend, eleven of them pulled from the water when their boat capsized. On Monday morning three migrants were airlifted to hospital from a boat intercepted by marine rescue services in the Alborán sea, also off the Andalucía coastline.