Italy Prepares Spanish Migrant Convoy, Clashes With France

Vice president of Valencia's regional government Monica Oltra (C), mayor of Valencia Joan Ribo, and health counselor Ana Barcelo attend a meeting to organize the arrival of hundreds of migrants stranded for days on the French NGO's ship Aquarius in Valencia, on June 12, 2018. Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images

ROME—Italy forged ahead with plans to send hundreds of migrants to Spain in a small naval convoy on June 12 after shutting its own ports to them, sparking a war of words with France that exposed EU tensions over immigration.

Some 629 migrants, including 11 children and seven pregnant women, have been afloat in the central Mediterranean aboard the Aquarius rescue ship since Sunday, when both Italy and Malta refused to let them dock.