A Sicilian mayor has gone to extreme lengths to stop migrants moving into his area - by barricading an abandoned hotel where new arrivals were set to take up residence.

Vincenzo Lionetto Civa, mayor of Castel'Umberto in the Messina province, wrote an 'urgent and important' Facebook post, telling residents that the local prefect had informed him that the 30 or so migrants would be transferred to a local hotel.

'I don't believe this act of institutional involvement to be correct for the obvious reasons of the repercussions on our community,' he wrote in the post.

Vincenzo Lionetto Civa, mayor of Castel'Umberto in Messina, Sicily, led a dozen or so residents in surrounding the Canguro hotel in Sinagra with their cars on Saturday, though the migrants apparently were already inside

The mayor (pictured) wrote an 'urgent and important' Facebook post, advising residents that the local prefect had just informed him that the 30 or so migrants would be transferred to an abandoned hotel

He led a dozen or so locals in surrounding the Canguro hotel in Sinagra with their cars on Saturday, though the migrants apparently were already inside.

Several residents also took to Facebook to show their support for the mayor.

But his comments sparked outrage from some locals, with Filippo Torrisi writing: 'Mayor you must resign, this is racism. And coming from a Sicilian, a Sicily that for 150 years has 'invaded' the world with workers is really shameful.'

In a later post, the mayor wrote: 'Thank you everyone for your support, for the proposals and suggestions. I dissociate myself from violent and xenophobic comments which reflect neither the spirit of the initiative or my personal feelings.'

Photos posted on the mayor's Facebook page show locals use their cars to barricade the hotel

Tensions over migration are running high in Italy, with daily arrivals of new asylum-seekers and local officials complaining they don't have space to take them in. The issue is particularly sensitive with elections expected this year or next.

Spain's maritime rescue service says that it has saved 19 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in a small boat.

The service tells The Associated Press that all 19 migrants were men claiming Algerian nationality.

The boat was spotted late on Friday night, and rescuers reached it early on Saturday morning in waters off the southeastern coast of Spain.

Thousands of migrants from Africa attempt the perilous crossing to Europe in small boats that are unfit for the open sea and often launched by human smugglers.

More than 86,000 have landed in Italy so far this year after being rescued in the Mediterranean as they attempt the perilous crossing.

Many are fleeing horrors in Libya, although the UN Refugee Agency this month said that seven in ten were economic migrants rather than refugees.

Migrants wait to disembark from the NGO Medecins Sans Frontier Vos Prudence ship after being rescued at sea, at Salerno's harbor in Italy on July 14