Group of illegal immigrants arrested in southern Spain

The Spanish police arrested on Thursday morning in Tarifa (extreme south of Spain) a group of 133 illegal immigrants, including 131 persons from sub-Saharan Africa and two Moroccans.

According to local authorities, the group, which also included 44 women, was arrested in four operations in various regions of Tarifa. This is the largest number of illegal immigrants arrested since last summer.

Partial figures presented recently by Spanish home minister, Mariano Rajoy, show a 16% increase in the number of illegal immigrants found on Spanish territory in the first ten months of 2001, from 15,195 persons in 2000 to 17,692 in 2001.