Arsenio Fernandez de Mesa, the general director of the Spanish Civil Guard, on Monday said the problems of illegal immigration to Europe was not just an issue for Spain but for the entire European Union (EU).

Speaking on Spanish radio network RNE, Fernandez de Mesa said sub-Saharan immigrants continued to try to breach the frontiers at the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north coast of Morocco.

"We have had around 10,000 people trying to cross in the past few months and where, thanks to the installation of anti-climbing wire, less than 1 percent has been able to cross," he said.

Thousands of would-be immigrants are known to be camped in the hills surrounding the enclaves, looking for a chance to climb over the border wire into Spanish territory.

Immigrants have become well-organized in coordinating their attempted crossings.

Security forces on both sides of the frontier have been criticized for their methods in stopping frontier crossings.

But Fernandez de Mesa insisted that although it was a "complicated task, it is carried out with all possible humanity."

Nevertheless given the sheer number of people looking to cross into the two enclaves and thus into Europe, Fernandez de Mesa said the question of illegal immigration was "a problem for the entire EU. Spain cannot face up to it alone."

"Ceuta and Melilla are the frontiers of the EU," he said, adding that the immigrants who reached the enclaves "don't come to stay there and probably don't aim to stay in Spain either."