Spain has offered to take in a rescue ship that is drifting in the Mediterranean Sea with 629 migrants on board after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock.
The humanitarian ship Aquarius picked up the migrants, including 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 other children and seven pregnant women, from inflatable boats off the coast of Libya at the weekend.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who took office just over a week ago, has given instructions for the boat to be admitted to the eastern port of Valencia, his office said in a statement.
Yesterday, Italian government officials said that Italy would refuse to let Aquarius dock at its ports and it had asked the Mediterranean island of Malta to open its doors to the vessel.
Malta brushed off the request, saying it had nothing to do with the rescue operation, opening the prospect of a diplomatic rift between the two European Union allies.
The move by Italy's new interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who is also head of the far-right League, is an attempt to make good on his electoral promises to halt the flow of migrants into the country.
More than 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat from Africa in the past five years.
Numbers have dropped dramatically in recent months, but rescues have increased in recent days, presenting Mr Salvini with his first test as leader.
Aquarius is operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders.
Pictures issued by SOS Mediterranee showed hundreds of Africans huddled aboard, including a young girl wrapped in a blanket in the arms of a rescue worker.
The charity said the ship had enough supplies to feed the migrants at least for another day.
An MSF spokesperson said: "Spain's offer of safe port in Valencia is 1,300 kilometres away and a further three-day journey, with Aquarius already well over maximum capacity.
"Health and safety of people rescued on board including sick and injured people, pregnant women and children must come first.
"Aquarius has not to date received communications on this matter from relevant Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres in Rome and Madrid."
By law, it will be difficult for Italy to refuse the boat a safe haven, as its own Coast Guard coordinated the rescues.
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Coast Guard vessels picked up more than 280 migrants in three different rescues and transferred them to the Aquarius to be taken to safety.
Mr Salvini said Italy should not be the only country taking in boats arriving from North Africa, urging Malta, which is closer to Libya, to allow the ship to disembark.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he told his Italian counterpart, Giuseppe Conte, he would not take the ship.
"We are concerned at Italy authorities' directions given to Aquarius on high seas. They manifestly go against international rules, and risk creating a dangerous situation for all those involved," Mr Muscat said on Twitter.
Malta allows a small number of emergency evacuations from rescue ships, but has always refused large numbers.
The small island nation with fewer than a half million inhabitants says it already takes in more refugees per capita than Italy, a European Union partner. Italy has taken in more than 600,000 boat migrants since 2014.
League MP Nicola Molteni said blocking the ship was meant as a message to the European Union, which the party says has failed to help Italy deal with the migrant crisis.
"We want to send a clear message," Ms Molteni said in a newspaper interview. "Either other ports open up (to migrants) - and I'm thinking of Barcelona, Marseille and Malta - or this (standoff) will go on."
