A total of 671 irregular migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea from the coast of North Africa to Spain over the weekend, the Spanish media reported on Monday.

Based on reports from Spanish Maritime Rescue Services and Police, 453 migrants arrived on Sunday, while 218 were rescued late on Saturday in the waters of the Straits of Gibraltar in an area known as the Alboran Sea off the southeast coast of Spain.

Among the arrivals, 199 people, including 37 woman and 5 infants, were rescued by Spanish rescue vessel 'SAR Mastelero' from four different dinghies in the Alboran Sea. They were taken to Malaga to receive attention from the Red Cross.

A further 90 people, 53 sub-Saharan Africans and 37 migrants from the Maghreb, were also picked up from two further dinghies in the same area and taken to the port of Motril in southeast Spain.

Another 30 people from the Maghreb landed directly on the beach at Santa Maria del Mar, in the province of Cadiz in southwest Spain, with witnesses explaining how the migrants all ran off the beach as soon as their boat reached the shore.

Meanwhile, 8 Moroccan nationals were arrested in the Spanish north-African enclave of Ceuta as they attempted to swim to a ferry bound for Algeciras in southwest Spain.

One of the reasons for the large numbers of people attempting the dangerous crossing this weekend is the presence of a high-pressure weather system over the south of Spain. This assures calm weather in the Mediterranean and in theory makes the crossing, which many attempt in inflatable dinghies, slightly less dangerous.

Figures released by the Spanish Interior Ministry a week ago confirmed that 59,043 irregular migrants came to Spain in the first 11 months of the year, 129 percent more than in the same period in 2017.

Among them, 11,543 arrived in November, while 114 people were confirmed to have lost their lives attempting the journey during the month.

Meanwhile the International Organization for Migration informed on Nov. 13 that 2,043 migrants have died in the whole of the Mediterranean this year.