BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Immigrant boats

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Monday, 11 September 2006, 15:44 GMT 16:44 UK

In pictures: Immigrant boats

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Senegalese fishing boats - or cayucos as they are called in Spain - have become the preferred method of transport for illegal immigrants trying to reach the Canary Islands.

Los Cristianos, Tenerife

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The brightly painted wooden fishing boats are a colourful oddity in a harbour of yachts, ferries and trawlers.

Boats

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They are often equipped with two or three 40 horsepower outboard motors. Barrels of fuel are packed beneath the deck, on which the passengers stand huddled together.

Canary Islands

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Messages of thanks and prayers asking God for a safe passage at sea are written on many of the boats.

Canary Islands

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The immigrants' families back home are said to scan newspapers for pictures of the distinctive boats to see if their loved ones have arrived safely.

Canary Islands

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The eight-to-10-day crossing is very risky - hundreds of migrants are believed to have died at sea. Some wear life jackets, which they leave in the boat on reaching land.

Canary Islands

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Once emptied of passengers, the fuel-soaked hulls reveal something of the journey - simple belongings and bits of food.

Canary Islands

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Having had so many people packed on board for such a long time, the boats are a health hazard.

Canary Islands

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The crossing is the last journey the boats will make. They are lifted from the quayside for crushing.

Canary Islands

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The wooden hulls are destroyed and the remains piled into skips and taken away.

Canary Islands

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It's too early to say whether the daily arrival of the migrant boats will damage the islands' tourist industry.

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