At least four people died when a boat carrying about 30 migrants sank off Spain's Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, emergency services said.

Sunbathers in the Canary Islands joined forces with emergency workers to give water, food and clothes to migrants who arrived unexpectedly on a beach in the Spanish archipelago on Friday.

A fire raged out of control on the Spanish holiday island of Gran Canaria on Monday, forcing evacuations as flames rose so high even water-dropping planes could not operate in what was dubbed an ‘environmental tragedy’.