MADRID, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Maritime Rescue services rescued 60 immigrants from northern Africa off the Spanish coast on Wednesday.
These immigrants were from Africa's Maghreb region, among whom 28 were minors, including a "two to three" year-old child, Spanish authorities confirmed.
The inflatable dinghy carrying the immigrants was discovered a mile off the "Mangueta" beach in the Spanish town of Barbate. The immigrants were then taken to the nearby port where they were received by members of the Red Cross and the Spanish National Police.
Wednesday saw the rescue of a second dinghy containing a further two men from the Maghreb region. This dinghy was discovered five miles south of Tarifa, which is also in the southwest corner of Spain.
The rescue came a day after Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido confirmed that 10,751 undocumented immigrants were able to enter Spain by either land or sea during the first half of 2017. Among them, 2,189 attempted to cross the Straits of Gibraltar which separates Spain from Africa.
