Hundreds rescued from migrant boats

BARCELONA, Spain — Spain’s maritime rescue service said Saturday that it has saved 933 people and recovered four bodies from dozens of migrant boats attempting the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea over the past two days.

The service said it pulled the migrants from a total of 68 different smuggling boats that rescue craft intercepted throughout Friday and Saturday after they departed from African shores.

The spike in arrivals comes as Spain prepares to receive another 630 migrants after Italy and Malta refused to let the aid boat Aquarius land in their ports last week. The Aquarius and two Italian ships carrying the migrants are expected to arrive at Spain’s eastern port of Valencia on Sunday.

Spanish authorities say they will examine the migrants case-by-case to see if they qualify for asylum.

The boatload of migrants that was forced to spend days crossing the western Mediterranean includes 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children and as many as seven pregnant women.

Spain announced Saturday that it has accepted an offer by the French government to take in those migrants who want to go to France “once they have fulfilled the protocols established for their arrival.”

The statement said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez “appreciated the cooperation of President (Emmanuel) Macron and believes this is the framework of cooperation that Europe should use to respond” to immigration on the continent.

The refusal by Italy and Malta to allow Aquarius to enter their ports has created a dispute between European Union members over how to handle immigration.

Spain’s new Socialist government has taken up the cause of the migrants’ plight to demonstrate its commitment to protecting human rights and respecting international law.

Joseph Wilson is an Associated Press writer.