Spain will welcome 60 migrants from the ship Aquarius as part of an agreement with five other European countries, the Spanish government has announced.
Government sources highlight that the agreement, coordinated by Spain, is the first such operation to distribute migrants around different European states. 141 migrants and refugees are currently on board Aquarius, rescued from the central Mediterranean by the vessel which is operated by the NGOs SOS Mediterranée and Médecins Sans Frontières.
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has also confirmed the agreement on his personal Twitter: "Spain has coordinated a pioneering agreement between six countries to share out the welcoming of the people from the Aquarius. It's been possible thanks to the path we started on in July, promoting a common and solidary solution to the flow of migrants".
Sources from the Moncloa government palace emphasised that today's agreement is possible thanks to the decision by Pedro Sánchez's government to accept 629 earlier migrants from Aquarius "to resolve a difficult humanitarian situation and to put on the table in Europe the need to look for a coordinated and common solution to the challenge of managing the flow of migrants".
On that occasion, the Spanish executive offered the port of Valencia for the boat to disembark and granted its passengers entry for 45 days on humanitarian grounds, something which they, in principle, don't plan to grant again, regardless of whether the migrants in question have arrived via rescue ship or not.
Heading to Malta
The agreement brings together France, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Malta. Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat has said that his country will give the ship permission to enter port "despite having no legal obligation to do so", whilst the other five countries will welcome those aboard.
Eduardo Cabrita, the Portuguese internal administration minister, has confirmed the agreement in an interview with the news agency Lusa, saying there are 244 migrants in total to be shared between the different countries. These are the 141 from the Aquarius and a hundred more on other boats near Malta.
He says Portugal has promised to receive 30 of the 244, as part of the "common" will of the different governments. This agreement, which has already been communicated to the European Commission, would be open to other starts to join.
"We understand there has to be a stable position at a European level which involves everyone. We cannot go from one ad hoc solution to another whenever there's a vessel drifting in the Mediterranean," he said.