By Associated Press - Thursday, December 13, 2018

BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union’s border agency says the number of migrants entering Spain across the Mediterranean Sea so far this year has more than doubled over the same period in 2017.

Frontex said Thursday that almost 53,000 unauthorized migrants arrived in Spain in the first 11 months of 2018. Most were from Morocco, Guinea and Mali.

Overall, Frontex says, the number of people trying to reach European shores via the Mediterranean has dropped sharply this year as fewer people are leaving Libya for Italy.

It says around 138,000 people entered to November compared to same period last year, a drop of about 30 percent.

Despite the lower numbers, the EU remains unable to agree on how to manage migrant arrivals. The challenge has sparked a major political crisis in the bloc.

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