More than 200 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Spanish coastguard as they attempted to make the crossing from Africa to Spain, rescue services said on Thursday.

The migrants were found on Wednesday in three rafts in the Alboran Sea, between northeastern Morocco and southeastern Spain, and were then taken to Almeria and Malaga.

The rescue comes at a time when Spain is preparing for the arrival of 15 migrants from an Italian port following a prolonged standoff between Italian authorities and a Spanish-registered private rescue boat.

According to Spain’s Interior Ministry, some 18,018 migrants had arrived in Spain so far this year by mid-August. The figure represents a 39 percent decrease from the same period last year.

The migration crisis continues to plague the Mediterranean Sea as thousands of migrants seek to reach Europe each year.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says that thousands of other refugees and migrants are also held in detention centres in Libya, after their attempts to reach Europe were thwarted.

The arrivals in Europe have however dropped since 2017 after EU stated instituted stringent migration laws.

UN data shows irregular sea arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa to EU dropped from over 1 million in 2015 to some 141,500 people last year while nearly 15,000 people are estimated to have died or gone missing in the perilous sea voyage.