Sunbathers in Cadiz, Spain, recorded the shocking moment a boat filled with migrant men landed on a beach filled with women, children, and families in broad daylight, before the group disappeared into the hinterland.
The Telegraph — which describes the roughly two dozen men as “undocumented” migrants — quotes witness Carlos Sanz as saying the group vanished before police could arrive.
The Western Mediterranean route to Europe via Spain has been growing in popularity since the European Union began paying the Turkish government to better police the Eastern Mediterranean route via Greece, which was used by some 885,000 migrants in 2015.
The Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy remains the current route of choice in 2017.
However, Italian authorities are finally taking some action to turn back migrant boats whilst they are still in Libyan waters — despite threats from Libyan warlords — and beginning to tackle the so-called rescue ships which have been helping people-smugglers to ferry migrants into Sicily.
This has made Spain increasingly attractive to illegal migrants, and according to data cited by Hungarian security chief György Bakondi some 9,507 migrants have entered the Mediterranean country in the first six months of 2017 — a significant increase on the previous year’s numbers.
Some have travelled by sea, over a route already well-worn by Moroccan gangsters bringing illegal drugs and tobacco into the country in an increasingly violent and uncontrollable trade.
Others have reached EU soil by storming the fences and border posts around Spain’s two North African semi-enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, with a few major events in recent days.
Around a thousand tried to storm into Ceuta on August 8th, armed with makeshift spears, clubs, and knives, injuring three Spanish border guards — just one day after 300 had charged one of the city’s border checkpoints, with a guard suffering a horrific leg break as he tried to stop them.
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