The Latest Breaking News from Borja Suarez

Three migrants who arrived to the Canary Islands from Nigeria after enduring 11 days on a tanker rudder have asked for asylum in Spain, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The bodies of four migrants, who died on the Atlantic Ocean in an inflatable dinghy with 34 people on board, and a survivor were brought to Spain's Canary Islands, the local maritime rescue service and an NGO said on Sunday.

Spain is shifting its foreign policy towards Africa while lobbying the EU and NATO for support to address migration from the continent, aggravated by the Ukraine invasion, two senior government officials and two diplomatic sources told Reuters.

Two Spanish coast guard helicopters rescued 13 migrants in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands on Monday, authorities said, but those rescued told Red Cross workers that about twice as many were missing and probably drowned.