Migrants saved after Canaries bid

Thousands of Africans have already arrived in the Canary Islands

About 75 African migrants trying to get to Spain's Canary Islands have been rescued after being lost at sea for three days.

Two boats were picked up after trying to cross a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean from Mauritania.

The rescue came as the Canary Islands' governor warned that up to 20,000 Africans were trying to reach Europe from the coasts of West Africa.

Earlier this week 45 migrants died at sea trying to reach the Canary Islands.

Catastrophe

Mr Segura said that around 2,000 sub-Saharan African migrants had arrived in the Canaries since the beginning of the year, but hundreds of others may have drowned at sea.

He said the phenomenon "has become catastrophic" as a result of the movement of masses of people from areas such as Mali and Senegal where droughts have devastated harvests.

"We must try to prevent this exodus occurring, because I would even say hundreds of human lives have been lost anonymously at sea over recent months," he told Radio Cadena Ser.

He said the 2,000km (1,240 miles) coastline made it difficult for the Mauritanian and Moroccan governments to monitor the situation.

The Spanish Red Cross told Reuters news agency that although official figures say 106 migrants have died trying to reach the Canaries, the real figure could be around 1,000.

Collision

It is thought that tightened police controls in the Straits of Gibraltar, northern Morocco and the northern Canary Islands have forced people traffickers into finding new, longer and more dangerous routes into Europe.

Fifteen camps run by mafia gangs along the African coast are said to be being used as launching points for thousands of migrants. Up to 20,000 are said to be waiting in the camps.

Spain's Secretary of State for Immigration Consuelo Rumi, has demanded more help from the European Union to deal with this problem, saying the final destination for these immigrants is Europe, not just Spain.

The death at the weekend occurred when a boat carrying 20 people collided with a Moroccan vessel.

A further 22 migrants died after their boat, described by the Red Crescent as no more than a wooden canoe, capsized.