Spanish coastguards intercepted a ship carrying 176 Sub-Saharan Africans trying to enter Spain illegally in the early hours of Friday, a government spokesman in the Canary Islands said. The Spanish islands off the coast of Morocco are the habitual destination of smaller boats that cross from the nearest beaches with a few dozen would-be migrants, typically from Morocco itself or from Mali. But the ship found near the coast of Gran Canaria was a much bigger vessel and appeared to have come from Guinea-Bissau or Cape Verde, further down the West African coast. "This represents a significant jump from the usual practices involving small boats," the government spokesman said. The ship was towed into port. Police were identifying the passengers and one person, who could be the ship's captain, had been arrested, he said. Thousands of Africans attempt to enter Spain illegally every year in search of a better life, often risking their lives in rickety boats and at the hands of traffickers who try to dump their passengers before reaching the shore.
