Nearly 500 migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in just one day by Spanish maritime patrols.
The Spanish Maritime Safety Agency announced it had assisted a total of 484 migrants aboard 30 different watercraft bound for Europe.
INMIGRACIÓN situación 20:00h: ESTRECHO: Auxiliadas 334 personas de 27 pateras por Arcturus, Denébola, y Concepción Arenal trasladados a Tarifa, Algeciras y Barbate. ALBORÁN: 150 personas de 3 pateras por Caliope, R.Miño @guardiacivil Hamal y Destacamento Alborán, a Málaga Motril pic.twitter.com/7p7D2iukyG
— SALVAMENTO MARÍTIMO (@salvamentogob) July 24, 2018
Additionally, a slew of rescue operations have taken place in the hours since, indicating that a surge may be in effect, as hundreds more migrants are brought ashore.
Desde las 8.40 horas hemos rescatado en El Estrecho con la Salvamar Atria, la Salvamar Gadir y la Guardamar Concepción Arenal a 300 personas de 23 #pateras. Nuestros controladores del Centro de @salvamentogob de Tarifa han coordinado las emergencias pic.twitter.com/nahe7dlcYi
— SALVAMENTO MARÍTIMO (@salvamentogob) July 25, 2018
"From 8.40 hours we have rescued in the strait with the Marina Atria, the Marina Gadir and the Guardamar Concepción Arenal up to 300 people from 23 dinghies," the organization tweeted only hours after the original announcement.
Spain has been identified as the 'new weak link' on Europe's southern seaboard, as Italy's recently-elected nationalist government has cracked down firmly on illegal immigration and NGO 'rescue' operations that often involved Italian ports.
"Spain has become the new main entry point for asylum-seekers fleeing Africa," Reuters reported in early July. "Around 19,000 asylum-seekers arrived in Spain in the first five months of this year, almost as many as arrived there in all of 2017, eclipsing for the first time the numbers flowing through north Africa to Italy."
The Spanish government recently welcomed an NGO boat laden with hundreds of migrants rejected by Italy and Malta. Shockingly, reports emerged that students were forced out of their prepaid accommodations to make space for the new arrivals, the majority of whom were male economic migrants.
The Supreme Court of Spain has ordered the government to accept more migrants, issuing a ruling weeks ago that determined the country had fallen short of its humanitarian obligations.
(PHOTO: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP/Getty Images)
