The Guardia Civil and Marine Rescue intercepted two boats carrying a total of 48 passengers on board, five of them minors.
One boat was spotted near Caños de Meca, Cádiz province, and contained 38 Moroccans and 2 Algerians and including 5 minors.
The second boat was spotted 48 miles southeast of Cabo de Gata, Almería, with 8 North Africans on board.