VALENCIA, Spain, June 16 (Xinhua) -- France offered on Saturday to help Spain take in immigrants from the ship Aquarius, which will arrive on Sunday in Valencia (eastern Spain) after being stranded in the Mediterranean when leaving last week from the shores of Libya, said Spain's Deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo.
"France will accept migrants who, after arriving at the port of Valencia and once they have complied with all the protocols established by the reception procedure, express their desire to go to this country," the deputy prime minister said in a statement, citing the French government.
Calvo, who is in charge of coordinating the reception, accepted the French government proposal, after having a conversation with the ambassador of this country in Spain, according to the statement.
Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, thanked the cooperation of French President Emmanuel Macron, and stressed that this "is the framework of cooperation with which Europe must respond" to the problem of illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, Valencia is preparing to receive on Sunday the three ships that transport the 629 migrants who initially departed from the Libyan coast aboard the Aquarius.
When leaving the Libyan coast, the ship was stranded on the high seas because Italy and Malta refused to allow the ship carrying migrants of 27 nationalities to dock.
They had to be transferred to other ships so that they could arrive at the port safe and sound.
On Monday, the Spanish government led by the socialist Pedro Sanchez, offered Valencia "as a safe harbor" so that the Aquarius could dock.
