National
237 immigrants reach Spanish shores on Monday
By h.b.
May 6, 2008 - 7:18 AM

237 immigrants arrived on the coasts of Spain in four small boats yesterday. There were seven children and five pregnant women among this latest wave of travellers.
Three of the boats came ashore at Adra in Almería, Motril in Granada, the island of El Hierro, and at San Bartolomé de Tirajana in the south of Gran Canaria.

The first boat was spotted at 2pm by a fishing boat close to the island of Alborán. The seven metre Zodiac was 40 miles off Motril when intercepted. The immigrants were transferred to a coastguard vessel and arrived in Motril at 9,30pm last night.
All of the travellers are being medically examined before being handed over to the National Police ahead of repatriation.

Later 70 immigrants were intercepted on a beach in Adra at 7pm, with the Guardia Civil arriving on the scene as the immigrants were wading to shore. There were seven children in the group including a baby a few months old.

And 11 Algerian immigrants were arrested when their boat was intercepted to the SE of Cabo de Gata in Almería.

The 77 arrivals on El Hierro were on a Cayuco boat and saw three women, one of them pregnant, and there were five ill travellers in the group of 49 sub-Saharan travellers who were escorted into the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria. There were five possible children in the group who will now have a bone examination to establish their age.