THE body of a suspected migrant has been pulled from the water off the Costa del Sol, marking the fourth corpse discovered in a week.
A passing sailboat spotted the victim floating off Puerto de la Duquesa in Manilva on Wednesday.
A Salvamento Maritimo patrol boat recovered the body shortly after receiving the alert.
The deceased is believed to be a young man in his early 20s who drowned while attempting the perilous swim to Ceuta.
He was found wearing a wetsuit, swimming trunks and a single flipper.
It follows the discovery of three other bodies along the western Malaga coastline on Tuesday.
One corpse was found 22 miles east of Estepona, while another was discovered tangled in a local mussel farm.
A third was recovered from the sea near Manilva.
The Subdelegacion del Gobierno believes the victims were dragged up the coast by strong currents after failing to reach the Spanish enclave in North Africa.
Dozens of migrants have drowned in recent weeks attempting to navigate the Strait of Gibraltar.
The true death toll of the ongoing crisis remains unknown.
It comes as thousands of migrants stormed into Ceuta today after the border collapsed.
READ MORE: Three bodies wash up on beaches along the Costa del Sol wearing wetsuits and flippers
The Spanish government said Morocco is cooperating ‘loyally and permanently’ with Spain, actively intervening to stop many more people from reaching the exclave.
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska will travel to Ceuta on Friday, and the two countries have committed to reviewing and speeding up procedures to hand back everyone who entered Spain illegally, according to a joint statement.
The government’s description of Morocco as a loyal partner contradicts recent claims from Spanish police unions accusing Moroccan authorities of passivity, and even complicity, in the surge.
Neither government specified how many people would be returned, or when, after thousands streamed into Ceuta uncontrolled around midday today.
Guardia Civil officers and emergency crews were overwhelmed by midday on Thursday and could only attend to the injured, according to El Pais.
The surge has dwarfed the 1,500 to 2,000 arrivals recorded over the previous ten days, a figure that suddenly looked minor by comparison.
Witnesses described people arriving soaking wet and jubilant, hugging each other, kissing the tarmac and throwing their flip-flops in the air as they reached Spanish soil.
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