The 629 migrants of the Aquarius finally reached a safe harbour in the Spanish city of Valencia on Sunday, bringing to an end their eight-day maritime ordeal that has drawn consternation across Europe and beyond.

Applause and singing rose from the three ships in the flotilla as, one by one, they approached the docks in Valencia, where aid and medical teams, emergency workers and interpreters awaited.

The migrants - among them up to nine pregnant women and 100 unaccompanied minors including seven children under the age of five - were whisked into field tents for medical assessment and processing by the Spanish authorities. Eighteen people, including six minors, were taken to local hospitals, while others were transferred to a local reception facility.

NGO workers said the migrants were jubilant to have reached Spain more than a week after they were pulled from the waters of Mediterranean by the rescue ship Aquarius. Many had feared they would be forced back to Libya after Italy denied the Aquarius permission to dock, its new populist government insisting the move would make Europe listen to its complaints that it has been abandoned to shoulder much of the crisis alone.

Karline Kleijer, head of emergencies for MSF, one of the two NGOs operating the Aquarius, described an atmosphere of happiness and relief. “During those horrible days in front of the Italian coast, people were extremely desperate,” she told The Telegraph, describing how one man threatened to throw himself overboard. “People say they would rather die at sea than die in Libya, and a lot of them are just happy to have escaped.”