Spanish police have detained about 200 African undocumented immigrants in the biggest such swoop this year, press reports said on Monday.
The north and sub-Saharan Africans were captured off Almeria and Granada on the southern coast as well as the Canary Islands after arriving on five boats over the week-end. They were in good health except for two, who were treated for hypothermia.
Increased police pressure in Morocco has prompted immigrant-smuggling rings to seek new routes, reports said.
The routes pass from the southern part of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara and from Mauritania to western Canary Islands, which are not yet covered by electronic surveillance systems.
Boats leaving from Mauritania look like fishing vessels, with the would-be immigrants pretending to be crew.
More than 10 000 African illegals were arrested on and off Spanish coasts and in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla last year.
The situation climaxed in the autumn, when Spain and Morocco sent thousands of police and soldiers to prevent thousands of migrants from climbing over the border fences surrounding Melilla and Ceuta.
Morocco deported large numbers of sub-Saharans to the desert.
Hundreds of them are now waiting in Mauritania to cross over to the Canaries, according to the daily El Mundo. – Sapa-DPA