Spain’s maritime rescue service said it saved 549 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, Fox News reported.

The service said its craft on Saturday intercepted six small boats carrying 350 migrants, in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar. 

And on Sunday another 199 migrants were pulled from five different boats, including two tiny inflatable boats. One of those tiny recreational boats was carrying children, too. 

The United Nations refugee agency estimates that 2,262 migrants died while crossing the Mediterranean in 2018. 

The European Union’s border agency says that 57,000 illegal immigrants reached Spain last year, double the figure for 2017. 

Overall, unauthorized border crossings into Europe hit a five-year low.