Astonishing moment stunned holidaymakers look on as dozens of North African migrants jump off a speedboat and run past their sunbeds on Costa del Sol beach

This is the stunning moment around 40 North African migrants jump from a speedboat on a Costa del Sol beach, in front of holidaymakers relaxing on the sand.

Shocked tourists sat bolt upright in their deck chairs as the small vessel approached the shoreline and the men disembarked, then ran or walked past them.

Their dark, unkempt clothing immediately distinguished them from the holidaymakers who were working on their tans in their bikinis and swimming trunks in temperatures of over 21 degrees Celsius.

The surreal scenes unfolded yesterday afternoon at around 5pm on El Chucho beach in the popular resort of Nerja, east of Malaga.

Police confirmed later in the afternoon, after an operation to track them down, that they had managed to intercept 33 of the migrants, six of whom are believed to be minors.

Shocked tourists sat bolt upright in their deck chairs as the small vessel approached the shoreline and the men disembarked before running or walking past them

Some had already walked almost three kilometres to another beach in the neighbouring town of Torrox when they were found.

The search for the handful of other migrants continued today.

The boat that took them to Spain had left yesterday morning from the Rif region of Morocco, with its Mediterranean beaches and beautiful mountain villages.

According to reliable sources, there were probably 36 men on board.

The adults who were intercepted were taken to a police station in Nerja and then transferred to a temporary reception centre for foreigners at the port of Malaga, known as CATE, while efforts begin to return them to their countries of origin.

Three weeks ago, about 20 migrants managed to land in a similar speedboat at another beach in Nerja, called El Playazo.

Yesterday’s mass arrival was almost a repeat of the dramatic scenes that unfolded on a busy beach in Mallorca in August.

Then about 20 mainly young men stepped over the bewildered tourists, who walked through their towels after jumping from a small boat at Cala Gran in Santanyi in the south-east of the holiday island.

The boat they took to reach Spain had left the Rif region of Morocco yesterday morning

It is widely believed that around 40 migrants disembarked from the boat that reached Nerja yesterday

They were all Algerians who had made the perilous 270-kilometre journey from their home country.

Earlier that same day, on August 13, four migrant boats reached the Balearic Islands, three of which reached the paradise destination of Formentera near Ibiza.

Although it is widely believed that around 40 migrants disembarked from the boat that reached Nerja yesterday, the region’s far-right party VOX claims that there are more than 100. They said they arrived on two boats.

Last night, the organisation said in an inflammatory tweet on its official account on X, criticising both the right-wing Partido Popular and the left-wing ruling party PSOE: ‘Two boats full of illegal immigrants (more than 100) arrived in Nerja today.

‘Look how calmly they invade our country. They know they won’t be deported.

‘This is what the PP and PSOE have provoked with their policies.’