Spain said it planned to host a meeting of the European Union's Mediterranean nations to help combat a surge in illegal immigration as hundreds more Africans landed on its Canary Islands today.
Ministers from seven other countries bordering the Mediterranean have been invited to Madrid later this month to call on other bloc members to do more to stop Africans landing on their shores in search of a better life in Europe, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said.
Over 1,000 immigrants reached the Canaries during the last three days in canoe-shaped fishing boats known as cayucos.
Around 20,000 have landed there so far this year, five times the total in 2005, after setting out from the shores of West Africa.
Three migrants died today after they and 83 others were rescued from their sinking boat off the Canaries by Spanish authorities.
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega
Ms Fernandez de la Vega visited Brussels this week and sought to convince members of the 25-nation EU that the problem is a European issue, not just a Spanish one.
A dozen European countries said they would help Spain after it faced a similar migration wave in May, but Madrid says they failed to deliver promised patrol boats, planes and helicopters.
EU states have promised two boats, two aircraft and a handful of experts for a nine-week mission, coordinated by the EU's border agency Frontex.
"It's obvious that some members of the union don't see the extreme problem Spain faces," Ms Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference after the government's weekly cabinet meeting.
Spain's Socialist government says it is on the frontline of a humanitarian disaster as thousands of destitute Africans flee poverty at home and pile up in its immigrant detention centres.
EU critics say Spain gave a green light to illegal immigration in 2005 when it legalised around 600,000 foreigners working in the country without papers.
The Spanish government faces pressure to stem the flow of immigrants as the opposition says cities like Madrid are being overwhelmed with homeless Africans.