MADRID: Spain's maritime rescue service says it has rescued 44 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea crammed into two small boats.

The rescue service says it collected 25 migrants before dawn Sunday from one boat, 19 others hours later from a second craft. No casualties were reported.

It says captains of passing vessels reported the migrants approaching Spain's southeast coast overnight.

The Spanish Red Cross says those aboard the first rescued vessel have been examined at the port of Almeria and are unhurt. It offered no details on those from the second rescued craft.

The International Organization for Migration says Spain received about 3,850 migrants via sea crossings and rescues in 2015. Others seek asylum in Spain via its North African enclaves, Melilla and Ceuta.