17 August, 2017
Some 600 migrants attempting to cross from Morocco to Spain have been rescued in just 24 hours, amid a surge in arrivals on what has become the fastest growing sea route to Europe.
The majority were form North Africa and the Sub-Sahara region.
The UN says more than 9,000 people have arrived in Spain so far this year - three times as many as the previous year.
Last week beach-goers in southern Spain watched as a dinghy carrying African migrants came ashore and the migrants dispersed into the countryside.
"Given the crackdown on migration from Libya, it seems natural that many would forsake the unsafe desert crossing to Libya and choose to cross from Morocco", IOM spokesman Joel Millman told the Financial Times.
Most are sailing across the 12km (seven-mile) Strait of Gibraltar and many are choosing cheap, child-sized paddle boats without motors that allow them to bypass people smuggling networks and their fees.
Some have even turned to social media to get in touch with the Spanish authorities to alert them of their location the moment they sail in territorial waters.
In June, about 5,000 people were rescued in one day in the Mediterranean off Libya, Italian coastguards said.
At least 35 young people, including a baby, were among the flow of migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea as they fled unrest or poverty in their countries, he said.
