As many as 60 migrants are believed to have disembarked from a boat that reached a crowded tourist beach near the world-famous La Manga Club on Spain's Costa Calida. The incident on Wednesday saw migrants leap from the vessel headed towards nearby towns as onlookers looked on in shock.
Shocking Beach Landing
Shocking photos show the moment dozens of migrants jumped from a boat as it reached a beach filled with holidaymakers soaking up the sun. Around 60 migrants were seen on board the packed vessel as it made its way to the beach near the luxury resort, which is well known to many of England's top footballers, having previously hosted the England squad for warm weather training as well as Arsenal Women and Newcastle United.
Local Politicians React
Spanish politician Francisco Bernabe, a former mayor of La Union, a town close to where the boat landed, blasted the actions of those on board and the failure of authorities to intercept them. He said: “Dozens of illegal immigrants landed today at the La Manga Club cove. How is it possible that a boat of that size was not detected by the surveillance radar? Are they broken? Do they have them turned off? Or are they working and they simply ignore them?”
Noelia Arroyo, mayoress of the municipality of Cartagena, echoed criticism, saying that such scenes of irregular migration “cannot be normalised.” She said: “We cannot accept that human trafficking mafias have such an easy time reaching our shores. If a migrant boat can reach a cove like this, disembark in full view of citizens and then leave, we have to ask ourselves how the control of our maritime borders is working.”
Background and Response
Local media reports described the men who disembarked from the vessel as “mainly north African men in their late teens and 20s.” The government has yet to respond to the incidents, although police are believed to have responded to a number of emergency calls from tourists and locals after the boat made land. The incident comes just weeks after 60,000 migrants breached the border of its territory Ceuta in north Africa. Spain's interior ministry has since said that most of those who broke into the territory from neighbouring Morocco have now returned. Over the weekend, hundreds of migrants trying to reach the Spanish exclave by land and sea were arrested by Moroccan security forces after authorities tightened security along the border.
