More than 300 migrants who are in Spain after their rescue boat was rejected by other European governments are requesting to be granted asylum in France, a top Spanish official has said.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told Spanish radio Cadena Ser that half of the 630 migrants who arrived at the Spanish port of Valencia on Sunday – on ships including the rescue boat Aquarius – expressed such a desire.
The Aquarius completed a 930-mile journey from Sicily to Valencia, ending a week-long ordeal for the 630 people rescued from the Mediterranean Sea, only to be rejected by Italy and Malta.
Spain’s new centre-left government granted the migrants 45-day stays to sort out their legal status.
