Ben Pawlowski
THIS is the moment a small migrant boat made landfall in Andalucia – before those on board were tackled to the ground by angry beachgoers.
The dinghy came to shore on Sunday afternoon on Sotillo Beach in Castell de Ferro, a town in Granada popular with tourists.
Hundreds of stunned holidaymakers watched on as the boat dumped a dozen men into the water before speeding off.
The group then attempted to swim to shore before making a run for it.
But video footage shared online shows sunbathers rugby tackling the migrants as they attempted to escape.
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Some even pinned the arrivals down on the hot sand as they waited for help to arrive.
Unfortunately for the migrants – believed to be from nearby Morocco – the beach is also home to a Guardia Civil headquarters, and one video shows the group being led away in handcuffs.
Speaking after the incident, one local restaurant owner told Spanish newspaper Ideal: “We all stood there staring, not quite knowing what was happening.
“We thought it was a recreational boat, but when we saw that they started throwing objects into the water and people started to get out, we realised it was not normal.
“What surprised us most was that the boat was moving very slowly, as if they weren’t in a hurry or afraid.
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“They went in where there were a lot of people, as if nothing had happened, and stopped five metres from the shore.
“Then they jumped off one by one, and the four remaining on board, some of them hooded, calmly turned around and left.”
Nine of the migrants were arrested by the Guardia Civil, according to reports.
Over 1,800 migrants have died trying to reach Spain by boat this year, according to figures published by Caminando Fronteras (‘Walking Borders’), a Spanish NGO (non-governmental organisation) that supports those living in fragile border zones.
While the majority of those deaths occurred between the Canary Islands and the west coast of Africa – widely considered the most dangerous migration route in the world – over 380 victims have died between northern Africa and mainland Spain.
Last year, Spain received 63,970 irregular migrants, the majority of whom arrived via boat in the Canaries.
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