In June, a rescue vessel carrying 629 migrants intended to dock in Italy. The Italian government would not let them in.
The incident spurred a diplomatic standoff, as hundreds of migrants waited in limbo at sea and Italy's populist government doubled down on its decision to close its ports. Malta also refused to accept the ship. Eventually, Spain's socialist government offered the migrants an open door, and the ship rerouted there.
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said when he agreed to welcome the ship.
The European Union's border agency said 57,000 migrants reached Spain last year, double the figure for 2017. That is partially due to the fact that Italy, Malta and other EU nations have been refusing to let aid boats full of rescued migrants dock at their ports.
The trend has continued into 2019, as Spain's maritime rescue service said Sunday that it had saved 549 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
The service said it had intercepted six small smuggling boats carrying a total of 350 migrants on Saturday in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar.
On Sunday, another 199 migrants were pulled from five boats, including two tiny inflatable boats meant for use in small bodies of water or near the beach. One of those tiny recreational boats was carrying four children. The other was packed with 10 adults.
Since coming to power last year, the Italian government has made clear that it doesn't want to let migrants in. The country is receiving far fewer migrants since its call to restrict them from entering. Given Italy's stance, plus changes in smuggling routes and renewed efforts by the Libyan coast guard to intercept migrant vessels, many are no longer taking their chances on the Central Mediterranean.
In 2018, the number of migrants who reached Italy dropped to about a fifth of what it was the previous year.
"The welcome mat has been taken away to a certain extent," said Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.
In general, migration to Europe continues to drop. In 2016, more than 390,000 migrants arrived in Europe. Last year, about 142,000 made it to Europe by land or sea, while at least 2,242 migrants died or disappeared crossing the Mediterranean.
The International Organization for Migration's priority is to ensure that "migrants are being rescued at sea ... [and] vulnerable migrants are being cared for," Doyle said.
Even as Italy's government cracks down on migration, some of the country's mayors are refusing to implement the demands of rightist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. Late last year, the Italian government approved a measure known as the "Salvini decree," which ensures that migrants seeking asylum based on humanitarian grounds will no longer be considered refugees. In 2018, more than 20,000 people were offered humanitarian asylum in Italy, Reuters reported. Some mayors insist they will allow asylum seekers to remain in their cities.
"Anyone who helps clandestine migrants hates Italians," Salvini tweeted in response. "They will answer for their actions before the law and the history books. I will not back down."
Information for this article was contributed by Siobhan O'Grady of The Washington Post and by staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/07/2019