Spanish police yesterday detained 550 African immigrants on beaches in the Canary Islands and the southern provinces of Cadiz and Granada in the biggest influx this year of those who make the dangerous night-time boat trip from Morocco. It was unclear how many immigrants had escaped police patrols and whether this was the largest number of African immigrants to reach Spanish beaches in one day. Police said the arrival of nine large rubber speedboats, packed with immigrants from Morocco and other parts of Africa, at beaches around the southern town of Tarifa was part of a new tactic being used by people traffickers in an attempt to overwhelm them. Cristina Clavain, an interior ministry spokeswoman in the southern city of Cadiz, said some of the boats had contained more than 60 people. Those on board included three babies, six pregnant women and up to 12 children. Full Story