Four women and 69 children also traveled on the boats.
A total of 363 illegal immigrants were rescued from three boats by the Spanish Maritime Rescue Service near the Canary Islands on Monday, according to MTI.
According to the agency, most of the refugees from sub-Saharan countries have been transferred to the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, depending on which is closer to the place of rescue. Four women and 69 children were also traveling on the large boats.
According to the latest data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, the number of people trying to reach Spain illegally, mostly by sea, has increased significantly during the summer.
In the first eight months of the year, nearly 22,000 illegal immigrants were registered, up 14.6 percent from the same time last year. About 21,000 of them arrived in the southern European country by sea. More than 11,000 people arrived in the Canary Islands, up 7.5 percent from last year, between January and August.
The archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean is visited mostly by people who set off from the coasts of West African countries, despite the distance, strong currents and changeable weather. The dangerous sea migration route claims many lives every year.
