Twenty-six irregular immigrants, including nine women and six children, arrived at midday on playa de Bolonia in Tarifa, Cádiz province, after making the perilous journey from Morocco in an inflatable rubber dinghy.
The authorities were alerted at 09:00 on Saturday morning when an individual phoned from Morocco to say that some of his relatives had set off from Tangier a few days ago and he had not heard from them.
A few minutes later there was a call from another person in Morocco with a similar story and the Guardia Civil, Marine Rescue, National Police, Civil Protection and Health Service were put on alert.
The dinghy was spotted by a helicopter near Punta Camarinal but by the time a Marine Rescue vessel reached the area the immigrants had already landed in the La Cabaña area of playa de Bolonia.