Spain's foreign ministry is urging Moroccan authorities to take "the necessary measures to temporarily prevent the boarding of Senegalese passport holders who do not have Schengen visas stamped in at least two years prior to the trip".

Madrid said boarding should be refused to these individuals until a new transit visa requirement comes into effect later this month.

Transit visa requirement

Once implemented, the requirement will allow authorities to control the boarding of Senegalese citizens who take advantage of layovers in Spain to seek asylum upon disembarkation.

Hundreds of asylum applications have been filed over the past few weeks by migrants traveling on South America-bound flights with a stopover in Madrid. Migrants discontinue their journey to seek asylum in Spain.

This flurry of arrivals has led to a situation of chaos and overcrowding at Terminal 4 of Madrid's Barajas airport, which is hosting asylum seekers while their requests are filed and examined.

Due to the "unhealthy condition" of migrants staying in the transit area, the Spanish ombudsman has repeatedly urged airport authorities and the ministries of interior and migration to "adopt measures to guarantee the rights of people who are in the asylum rooms of the airport Adolfo-Suarez-Barajas", according to a statement.

Spanish government employing 'all resources'

The Spanish government is employing "all resources" available to solving the overcrowding problems recorded over the past few weeks in the areas of Barajas airport reserved to asylum seekers, Spanish Inclusion and Migration Minister Elma Saiz was quoted as saying by the local Efe news agency in an address delivered to the parliamentary commission of Congress on Wednesday (January 31)

In her speech, Sainz also urged regional administrations to show "collaboration and solidarity" with migrant minors who are currently in the Canary Islands.

According to the latest data available, the archipelago is hosting some 5,000 unaccompanied minor migrants.