Spain wants to build fence between Melilla and Morocco to keep out immigrants

Spain plans to build a third high-security fence between its enclave Melilla and Morocco as an added measure to keep out immigrants who have repeatedly stormed the barriers in recent weeks, Interior Ministry delegate Jose Fernandez Chacon said Tuesday.

Speaking on Spanish National Radio, Fernandez Chacon said "a third fence was being studied and would be built with urgency." He said the measure was part of a plan that last week saw the deployment of troops and a speeding up of work to heighten one of the existing two fences.

Hundreds of poor sub-Saharan African immigrants gathered in northern Morocco have stormed the fences repeatedly over the past two weeks in a bid to enter Europe. Five immigrants were killed in a similar charge last week at Ceuta, Spain's other enclave on the northern Moroccan coast. Both city enclaves already have twin 3-meter (10-foot) razor fences spanning their perimeters, the AP reports. AM