Migrant arrivals by sea to Spain tripled in 2017 on the previous year, fueled by a surge in the numbers of Algerians and Moroccans, while over 200 died trying to make the crossing.

"At the end of the year, the tally is devastating," the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), which defends the right to asylum, said in a statement, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Almost 21,500 people arrived by sea on Spain's southern shores - popular with northern European tourists - between Jan. 1 and Dec. 20, up from 6,046 during the same period last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The number of deaths is also up. So far this year 223 people have died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by boat, 95 more than in 2016.

Most sea arrivals are reported along the Strait of Gibraltar which is the narrowest passage of the Mediterranean Sea separating Spain from Morocco. Smugglers transport migrants to Spain on rickety wooden boats, inflatable dinghies, and even Jet Skis, charging hundreds of euros for the trip.

In August footage of sub-Saharan African migrants arriving by dinghy on a packed beach in Cadiz in the southern region of Andalusia in August during the peak summer holiday season went viral on social media, drawing attention to the rise in migrant numbers.

"We are suffering migratory pressure in the entire Mediterranean area," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said Thursday in a radio interview.

While migrant arrivals rose in Spain, they fell in Italy and Greece, the primary entry point for migrants in Europe.

Nearly 119,000 migrants have arrived so far this year in Italy, which has put in place more aggressive measures to stem arrivals on its shores, including sending Italian military ships to assist the Libyan coast guard with patrols and interception.

Morocco is, like other North African countries, a departure point for African migrants heading in makeshift boats for Europe. A total of 174 people have already died on the route between North Africa and Spain this year, up from 121 in the same period of 2017, while the number of people arriving in Spain has reached 19,668 by Nov. 29, as reported by Reuters.

Migrant arrivals from Morocco to Spain have risen since June, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said in a report last month.

"Moroccans use all sorts of methods to reach Spain such as Jet Ski's, surfboards, inflatable dinghies and wooden boats which sometimes transport over 60 people," it said. Spanish authorities have struggled to cope with the surge in migrant arrivals.

The government came under fire from human rights organizations in November after it housed some 500 migrants who arrived in southern Spain, mainly from Algeria, at an unopened prison due to a lack of space at immigration detention centers.

During the last two week "hundreds of people have been sent back to Algeria" from the prison, including several minors, according to the director of migrant rights group Malaga Acoge, Alejandro Cortina.

Rights groups have called for migrants to be allowed to wait for the outcome of their asylum bid under more lax conditions, by reporting regularly to police or a court. But Zoido has argued that there is a risk that the migrants would disappear, causing a "pull effect" that would lead smugglers to bring more migrants to the country.