The Balearic Government is set to approve a protocol under which legal assistance and the help of humanitarian organisations will be guaranteed to immigrants who arrive in small boats or as stowaways and who are often the victims of organised gangs.

The proposal for this has come from the Més party, following consultation with other parties in the government.

The Més parliamentary deputy, Margalida Capellà, says that numerous small boats have come to the Balearics from Morocco and Algeria in recent years, and last month there were two instances - one in Santanyi, the other in Ibiza.

The Més initiative aims to ensure that people detained by the security forces have the opportunity to demand the right of asylum before being transferred to holding centres for immigrants on the mainland. There are no such centres on the Balearic Islands.

Those illegal immigrants who are arrested are normally held for a few days, maximum, by the National Police, and then transferred to holding centres on the mainland, primarily Barcelona.