Boat with 40 African migrants arrives Spanish island

A boat conveying about 40 African migrants including a toddler girl landed on a beach on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, sea rescue services said.

The migrants consisting 33 men, six women and the child, were all in good health when they arrived late on Tuesday, a government official said.

Reports indicate that the migrants huddled on the beach in the dark, while Red Cross workers handed out red blankets to them.

Migrants arriving in Gran Canaria, a popular holiday destination, have in the past been mainly from Senegal and Mauritania.

Statistics shows that such irregular arrivals in the Canary Islands peaked at almost 32,000 in 2006, but fell back to around 300 in 2014, after Spain increased patrolling.