
An African migrant has told how he paid almost £1,800 to be smuggled into the Spanish port of Algeciras - dubbed the new Lampedusa by its own mayor - from Morocco.

Cheikhou N’Diaye revealed how he waited just three days in Tangier before he boarded an inflatable dingy with 30 other migrants and paddled across the Strait of Gibraltar before he was rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard.

The 20-year-old from Senegal is one of more than 500 migrants housed in an emergency reception centre following an unprecedented influx of Africans arriving in Spain.

MailOnline gained exclusive access to a migrant reception centre on the outskirts of Algeciras, where migrants revealed their dangerous journeys - walking across the Sahara Desert and risking their lives in treacherous seas separating Africa from Europe – in the hope of a new life.

Cheikhou N'Diaye, 20, from Senegal, at the Los Cortijillos reception centre in Algeciras, Spain. He said he wants to get a job on the continent and send the money home to Africa

N’Diaye is one of more than 500 migrants housed in the Los Cortijillos emergency reception centre (pictured) following an unprecedented influx of Africans arriving in Spain

Inside the sprawling camp, next to a busy motorway, the hundreds of residents queued impatiently for their midday meal, handed out by scores of Spanish volunteers. Pictured: Some of the migrants eat their fare inside a football net

N'Diaye told MailOnline: 'I paid 2,000 Euros [£1,780] for my passage across the sea from Morocco to Spain.

'There were 30 people in my boat. It was an inflatable and I had to paddle. We set off from the beach and paddled through the night. Finally we were rescued at 8am.

'It was a dangerous journey but I am in Europe now.

'Now I want to get a job and earn money to send home. I don't mind where I go in Europe as long as I can get a job – Spain, France, Germany – anywhere.'

Inside the sprawling Los Cortijillos camp, next to a busy motorway, the hundreds of residents queued impatiently for their midday meal, handed out by scores of Spanish volunteers.

Armed officers from Spain's Guardia Civil paramilitary police wearing face mask against infection stand guard inside the camp and barred access to the defunct sports hall and outside football pitch to members of the public.

Local residents pass packs of cigarettes through the wire fences surrounding the centre in acts of quiet generosity.

The centre is currently home for 549 migrants who are given regular meals, clothing and medical support. Some 50 women and children were last night transferred from the sprawling Los Cortijillos camp to a new migrant reception centre which has opened further down the cost.

But as the local authorities struggle to shelter the new arrivals the men must sleep on the hard concrete floor and share two toilets and two showers between them. They queue in a line stretching for hundreds of yards for a meal of pasta, bread and fruit.

Sitting the shade of the high perimeter wall groups the men from Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Gambia and other west African states chatted amongst themselves.

Others lie on flattened cardboard boxes while they recall how they spent months working to pay for their passage through different countries, while a few revealed how their journey was paid for by a rich relative.

N'Diaye, a bright and friendly young man, told how he felt compelled to leave his native Senegal due to lack of opportunities.

The Maria Zambano rescue ship, owned by the Spanish Coastguard, at a port in Algeciras. It helps pick up migrants who launch from Morocco

The influx to the Spanish city has overwhelmed the Spanish authorities with migrants forced to sleep outdoors. Pictured: A migrant with police officers at Los Cortijillos

N'Diaye, who landed last week, is one of almost 21,000 African migrants who have arrived in Spain by sea since the beginning of the year. Pictured: Some of his fellow migrants outside the centre in southern Spain

More than 1,500 migrants have landed on the country's southern coast in the past seven days, with the majority of new arrivals passing through the port of Algeciras

Some of the migrants explained that they had a pleasant stay in Morocco before heading to Spain, which contrasts with their experiences of Libya, which was previously the main country from which migrants launched towards Europe

Accepting money from family and friends, he left his home in the capital Dakar and boarded a small boat in the north of the country, spending several days at sea before reaching the coast of Morocco.

From there he travelled quickly to Tangier by bus where he had arranged to meet a people smuggler who pledged to help get across to Spain.

He said: 'I was only in Morocco for three days.

'I got a small boat along the coast from Senegal to Morocco. It was not too hard.'

N'Diaye, who landed last week, is one of almost 21,000 African migrants who have arrived in Spain by sea since the beginning of the year.

More than 1,500 migrants have landed on the country's southern coast in the past seven days, with the majority of new arrivals passing through the port of Algeciras.

The influx overwhelmed the Spanish authorities, with migrants forced to sleep outdoors.

Algeciras' outspoken mayor, Jose Ignacio Landaluce, dubbed the port the 'new Lampedusa' – after the Italian island that has been overwhelmed by migrants heading for Europe from Libya.

Today Mr Landaluce, a right-wing MP who also represents Cadiz province in the Spanish parliament, described the migrant influx as a 'traumatic' but added that the migrant problem was 'unstoppable'.

'The situation has improved in the last 24 hours because of worsening weather conditions and because Spanish Ministry of Interior representatives have been in Rabat talking with the Moroccan authorities,' the mayor told MailOnline.

'But the situation over the past month has been dramatic and traumatic because we've seen people who are not being assisted as one would like and the number of people arriving has been worrying.'

'My fear is things are going to continue and get worse.

Algeciras' outspoken mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce (pictured) dubbed the port the 'new Lampedusa' – after the Italian island that has been overwhelmed by migrants heading for Europe from Libya

The outside of the Los Cortijillos reception centre in Algeciras, where migrants from Africa have been sent after they were rescued by the Spanish Coast Guard

Sitting the shade of the high perimeter wall groups the men from Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, Gambia and other west African states chatted amongst themselves

Los Cortijillos mayor Jorge Romero said 'Africa is unstoppable'. He added: 'We see the problems of hunger, wars, drought and unstable situations people are going to try to escape from'

Los Cortijillos mayor Jorge Romero explained: 'It costs the town 3,000 Euros every day to keep this centre open due to the cost of the police and council workers such as rubbish collection'

'The problems have to be tackled on many levels. The development plans Europe needs to spearhead in African nations are fundamental.

'We see the problems of hunger, wars, drought and unstable situations people are going to try to escape from.

'Europe has to realise Africa is unstoppable.

'Either we contribute to its development or we're not going to be able to prevent waves of migrants that can produce instability in our society.'

Los Cortijillos mayor Jorge Romero, who is responsible for the migrants, described the situation as a 'humanitarian crisis'.

'We have received a lot of donations of food and clothing from the local people,' mayor Romero told MailOnline.

'But it costs the town 3,000 Euros every day to keep this centre open due to the cost of the police and council workers such as rubbish collection.

'But this is a humanitarian crisis and we are doing our best.

Los Cortijillos mayor Jorge Romero, who is responsible for the migrants, described the situation as a 'humanitarian crisis'. Pictured: A migrant at the reception centre

Armed officers from Spain's Guardia Civil paramilitary police wearing face mask against infection stand guard inside the camp and barred access to the defunct sports hall and outside football pitch to members of the public

Ben, 26, from Senegal, at the Los Cortijillos reception centre in Algeciras. The city is on the southern tip of Spain, just west of Gibraltar

A long queue of African migrants forms outside the Los Cortijillos reception centre in Algeciras. They are fed and looked after by volunteers

Mohamed Mane (pictured), 26, from the Gambia, said: 'Morocco is the way to get to Europe. It took me weeks to get to Morocco. I had to work along the way – in Guinea Bissau and then I had to walk through the [Sahara] desert'

'Most people support what we are doing. And frankly I don't have a choice.'

Back at the camp migrants confirmed that the crossing the Strait of a Gibraltar to Spain was now the preferred route to Europe and warned there were 'thousands and thousands' more waiting to cross.

The men from across West Africa revealed how they had been warned against attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya due to growing problems including 'violence, abuse and kidnapping' – and a clampdown on sea rescue.

And the migrants – aged between 16 and 28 - told how they recalled how they had been housed and fed by 'hospitable' Moroccans who 'respect human rights'.

A migrant with an orange towel on his head outside the Los Cortijillos reception centre in Algeciras

Mohamed Aruna, 19, from Cameroon, said: 'Morocco is the best way to reach Europe. The Libya route is no good any more.

'I have friends who have come back from Libya. They were beaten, robbed and kidnapped. Their families had to pay money to get them released.

'So, I went to Morocco and now I am in Europe.

'I want to go to France. I speak the language and I have friends who are already in Paris.

'I want to study, to go to university, get a job and have a good life.'

Mohamed Mane, 26, from the Gambia, said: 'Morocco is the way to get to Europe.

'It took me weeks to get to Morocco. I had to work along the way – in Guinea Bissau and then I had to walk through the [Sahara] desert.

'But I am here now but there are thousands, and thousands and thousands of Africans waiting in Morocco to come across the sea.

'I have 200 friends who are waiting there now.'

He added: 'In Morocco you do not have to work. You put out your hand and people give you money and food. Moroccans are very hospitable.

'There are many places for migrants to stay. I lived in a house with my friends where we paid just a few euros a week.

'Morocco is not like Libya, it respects human rights.'

Mohamed went south first, passing through Senegal to work in a plantation in Guinea Bissau before travelling to Mali and Algeria in buses and trucks.

He too walked across the desert border from Algerian to Morocco.