The canoe left neighbouring The Gambia on Monday and was spotted by a Spanish military plane, according to the armed forces.

It began taking on water and capsized the following day.

But two Senegalese navy vessels rescued all 82 people aboard, in the Atlantic Ocean 86 kilometres (51 miles) off the northern Senegalese city of Saint-Louis.

A spokesman for Senegal's armed forces did not disclose the nationality of the passengers.

Would-be migrants often try to reach Canary Islands aboard traditional wooden canoes, which are known as pirogues.

The Spanish-owned archipelago lies more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the coast of Africa at its closest point.

But the open-ocean route to the Canaries is perilous.

In September, the UN's International Office for Migration said that 785 people had died or disappeared trying to reach the islands between January and August.

The armed-forces spokesman told AFP that the Spanish government sent the military plane that spotted the capsized boat to Senegal in order to monitor migrant flows.