Fernandez said the numbers were shared evenly between the two countries, with 40,000 waiting their chance in each.

　　"We have a wave of immigration with thousands and thousands of people who want to get to Spain and the European Union in an illegal manner," he said at an event he was attending in Catalonia, adding that "the mafias who deal in people are watching the situation which is happening in Spain."

　　The minister added that Spain's political parties needed to show unity in their treatment of immigration in the wake of the opposition, Socialist (PSOE) Party's attempt to open an investigation committee to look into the deaths of 15 immigrants who attempted to swim into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta a month ago.

　　Although Spanish authorities denied it at the time, the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) were filmed firing rubber bullets into the water close to some swimmers in an attempt to "dissuade," them from making landfall in Spain.

　　Fernandez has denied that these actions had anything to do with the 15 deaths, all of which were caused by drowning.

　　Earlier on Tuesday around 1,200 Sub-Saharans made an attempt to force their way into Ceuta on the north-coast of Morocco.

　　Several groups of Sub-Saharans try to breech the border fence in different points and the attempt is thought to have involved the majority of Sub-Saharans who are camped in the hills surrounding Ceuta looking for a chance to try and enter the Spanish territory.

　　The Government Delegate in Ceuta informs that on this occasion the Guardia Civil were not involved as Moroccan Security forces were able to stop the attempt to break through the border and that nobody actually crossed into Ceuta.

　　The incident highlights the desperate measures being increasingly used by Africans desperate to try and find a better life in Europe.

　　The past fortnight has seen further attempts to cross the border fence in Melilla, another Spanish enclave on the north coast of Morocco with several hundred Sub-Saharans successfully climbing the wire fence and making their way into the Center of Temporary Residence in the city in two different attempts on the wire.

　　Meanwhile the past two days saw two boats containing 12 and 32 immigrants respectively rescued from high seas and strong winds with gusts of up to 80 km/h and taken to Melilla.

　　If Fernandez's estimates, which are based in data provided by Morocco and corroborated by Spain's intelligence service are correct, there will be a great deal more pressure on Ceuta and Melilla in the coming days, weeks and months, analysts say.