MADRID (Reuters) - At least 17 migrants died in the space of 24 hours while trying to cross the sea from North Africa to Spain, and rescuers picked up more than 100 others, the Spanish coast guard said on Monday.

Two rafts were found in the Western Mediterranean between the Iberian peninsula and Morocco and Algeria with 80 people aboard, and 13 dead. They were taken to the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla, the coast guard said.

The coast guard also found four bodies and rescued 22 men in the Atlantic off the southern Spanish city of Cadiz.

Spain has now become the main destination for undocumented migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Europe.

More than 47,000 people made the treacherous journey to Spain, often on flimsy dinghies and rafts, between Jan. 1 and Oct. 30, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM). Almost 600 deaths have been recorded in that same period.

So far this year, there have been around 105,000 arrivals across the whole north coast of the Mediterranean, and over 2,000 missing or dead, though that is down from the same period in 2017, when 148,000 arrived by sea and almost 3,000 perished.

“In September, one life was lost for every eight people who crossed. This was in large part due to substantially reduced search and rescue capacity,” said the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).

Legal and logistical restrictions have discouraged non-governmental organizations from conducting search and rescue in the central Mediterranean.

More than half the deaths reported this year so far have been reported in crossings to Italy, whose new government has repeatedly refused to take in migrants setting off from Libya and picked up in the Mediterranean.</s>At least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.

At least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.

At least 17 migrants die in bid to reach Spain from North Africa

Spain’s maritime service said on Tuesday that it rescued 80 people, including five women, from two boats and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe.

They were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco.

In a separate incident, the Spanish Civil Guard said it found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors, all men from northern Africa, after the wooden dinghy in which they were travelling hit a reef close to the coast west of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The UN has said over 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.</s>At least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.

Spain’s maritime service said today that it rescued 80 people, including five women, from two boats and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe.

They were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco. Members of Spanish Civil Guard look for bodies of drowned migrants (Javier Fergo/AP)

In a separate incident, the Spanish Civil Guard said it found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors, all men from northern Africa, after the wooden dinghy in which they were travelling hit a reef close to the coast west of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The UN has said more than 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.</s>MADRID (AP) - Spanish rescue workers combed the seas and shores of southern Spain on Tuesday, searching for 17 missing migrants a day after finding the bodies of 17 other migrants who died trying to cross the Mediterranean in boats departing from North Africa.

The Spanish Civil Guard said it had found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors Monday, all men from northern Africa, after their wooden dinghy hit a reef close to the coast, west of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Civil Guard said 13 of the survivors were thought to be unaccompanied minors.

It also said 17 other people traveling were missing, but could have reached Spanish shores. The Civil Guard on Tuesday resumed the search for them both on sea and land.

Earlier on Monday, Spanish maritime rescuers found 80 people, including five women, and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe.

The migrants were traveling in two different boats, the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service said, adding that they were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco.

The U.N. says over 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, 564 of them trying to reach Spain.

In this photo taken on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018, migrants arrive at the port of San Roque, southern Spain, after being rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain's maritime rescue service saved 520 people trying to cross from Africa to Spain's shores on Saturday. Also, one boat with 70 migrants arrived to the Canary Islands. Over 1,960 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to the United Nations. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

At the Strait of Gibraltar on the western edge of the Mediterranean, Africa and Europe are only 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) apart but the waters there can be dangerous due to high winds and strong currents. Still, the short distance has made that route the most popular choice for migrants heading to Europe after fleeing violence or poverty at home.

Nearly 54,000 migrants have entered Europe this year through Spain, more than the combined migrant arrivals to Italy and Greece, which had been the most popular migrant destinations in previous years. One-fifth of them arrived in October, the month with most migrant arrivals so far this year, according to U.N. statistics.</s>At least 17 migrants have died in the past 24 hours while trying to cross the sea from North Africa to Spain, and rescuers picked up more than 100 others, the Spain’s maritime rescue service said on Monday.

Two rafts were found in the Western Mediterranean between the Iberian peninsula and Morocco and Algeria with 80 people aboard and 13 dead. They were taken to the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla, Salvamento Maritimo said.

The coast guard also found four bodies and rescued 22 men in the Atlantic off the southern Spanish city of Cadiz.

Spain has now become the main destination for undocumented migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Europe.

More than 47,000 people made the treacherous journey to Spain, often on flimsy dinghies and rafts, from Jan. 1 to Oct. 30, according to the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). Almost 600 deaths have been recorded in that same period, the IOM said.

Through 2018, there have been almost 100,000 arrivals throughout the whole Mediterranean, and almost 2,000 missing or dead, though that is down from the same period in 2017 when 148,000 arrived by sea and almost 3,000 perished.

Main photo: Library image of the Strait of Gibraltar. Pic by David Parody</s>MADRID (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue service says at least 17 people have died trying to reach Spain in boats departing from North Africa.

The service says Tuesday that it rescued 80 people Monday, including five women, from two boats and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe. They were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco.

In a separate incident, the Spanish Civil Guard says it found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors, all men from northern Africa, after the wooden dinghy in which they were travelling hit a reef close to the coast west of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The U.N. says over 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.</s>Spanish rescue workers combed the seas and shores of southern Spain on Tuesday, searching for 17 missing migrants a day after finding the bodies of 17 other migrants who died trying to cross the Mediterranean in boats departing from North Africa.

The Spanish Civil Guard said it had found four bodies of migrants and 22 survivors Monday, all men from northern Africa, after their wooden dinghy hit a reef close to the coast, west of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Civil Guard said 13 of the survivors were thought to be unaccompanied minors.

It also said 17 other people traveling were missing, but could have reached Spanish shores. The Civil Guard on Tuesday resumed the search for them both on sea and land.

Earlier on Monday, Spanish maritime rescuers found 80 people, including five women, and recovered the bodies of 13 dead migrants in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean migrant route into Europe.

The migrants were traveling in two different boats, the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service said, adding that they were all transferred to the Spanish enclave of Melilla, which borders Morocco.

The U.N. says over 2,160 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, 564 of them trying to reach Spain.

At the Strait of Gibraltar on the western edge of the Mediterranean, Africa and Europe are only 14 kilometers (8.7 miles) apart but the waters there can be dangerous due to high winds and strong currents. Still, the short distance has made that route the most popular choice for migrants heading to Europe after fleeing violence or poverty at home.

Nearly 54,000 migrants have entered Europe this year through Spain, more than the combined migrant arrivals to Italy and Greece, which had been the most popular migrant destinations in previous years. One-fifth of them arrived in October, the month with most migrant arrivals so far this year, according to U.N. statistics.</s>MADRID - At least 17 people have died while attempting to cross from Morocco to Spain, Spanish Maritime Rescue Services confirmed on Tuesday. The Government Delegate in the Spanish North-African enclave of Melilla reported that the bodies of 13 people, who were attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Morocco to Spain in two dinghies, were recovered by the rescue vessel "Guardamar Polimina".

The crew of the Guardamar Polimina were able to save a further 80 migrants, including five women, who were also travelling in the dinghies. The rescued have been taken to the Temporary Immigrant Center (CETI) in Melilla.

A further four migrants died in the province of Cadiz, southwest Spain after the dinghy they were travelling in hit rocks off a beach known as "Los Canos de Meca".

The Spanish media report that 40 Moroccans were in the dinghy and that 22 have been detained.

However, Civil Protection units are still searching the area as it is not known whether the 14 people unaccounted for were able to survive.

The Civil Guard's Chief of Operations in the region told the media that rivalry between gangs of people traffickers was one of the reasons behind the tragedies.

"They are constantly competing to lowering the price of the crossing and to do that they put the lives of these people at risk. We have seen the results of that this morning," commented Lieutenant-Colonel Luis Martin.

This tragedy comes a day after the Spanish Interior Ministry and the International Organization for Migration on Monday published figures which showed that an estimated 564 people lost their lives attempting to cross from North Africa to Spain during the first 10 months of 2018.</s>MADRID, Nov 6 — Thirteen sub-Saharan African migrants died and another 80 were rescued at sea after they tried to reach Spain in two boats from the North African coast, Spanish authorities said yesterday.

Increasing numbers of migrants are trying to enter Spain by sea or by crossing into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco, which are the only European territories in Africa.

“The coast guard recovered two vessels heading toward the peninsula, with 93 people, 13 of whom have unfortunately died,” the Spanish government delegation in Melilla said in a statement.

It said nine of the dead — all men — were recovered at sea and Red Cross efforts to revive four others also failed.

The two vessels were recovered 32km off the coast of Melilla, it said, without giving details on the state of the vessels.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 47,000 migrants have arrived by sea in Spain since the start of the year and another 564 have died or disappeared during the journey, often made aboard overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels. — AFP</s>MADRID (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue service says a baby has died despite efforts by rescuers to save it after a small boat carrying migrants sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. The death came as over 500 others were rescued.

The service says Sunday that the bottom of the rubber boat gave out, tossing 56 migrants into the water when its rescue craft reached it Saturday east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescue workers were able to save 55 men, women and children, but could not reanimate the baby.

In all, Spanish rescue workers saved 520 people trying to cross from North Africa to Spain on Saturday. In addition, one boat with 70 migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

Over 1,960 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.

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In two separate incidents, there are a total of at least seventeen migrants killed after they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Spain.