Desperate migrant is found hidden inside specially-made compartment next to a car's ENGINE by Spanish border officials

Curled in the foetal position next to a car engine, this migrant was lucky to be alive after going to desperate lengths to try to smuggle himself into Europe.

The asylum seeker, thought to be from Guinea, West Africa, was found in a special compartment under the car bonnet as it crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco.

Guardia Civil border police discovered him crammed between the engine block and radiator after noticing that the driver of the car appeared nervous.

He was also taken to hospital suffering from cramp and dehydration, it was reported by The Daily Telegraph.

Their perilous journey highlights the life-threatening measures refugees are taking to start a new life in Europe as the migrant crisis snowballs out of control.

Earlier this month, a migrant died after hiding in a suitcase for at least five hours while on board a ship bound for Spain.

The 27-year-old from Morocco squeezed into the case, which was then loaded into a car and driven onto a ferry travelling from Melilla – another the Spanish enclave – to Almeria by his brother.

But just before the ferry was due to arrive at the southern Spanish port after a five-hour crossing, the brother opened the luggage in Spain and found the man unconscious.

In May, MailOnline reported how an eight-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast was hidden inside a woman's suitcase as she tried to smuggle him into Spain.

Customs officials spotted Adou Ouattara when the luggage was passed through an X-ray machine and clearly showed his tiny frame packed inside.

He was later re-united with his mother, who lived legally in Spain, while his father was arrested and jailed after being charged with abusing the child and trying to smuggle him into the country. 

Fifteen people were also arrested this month in Spain for smuggling Moroccan migrants into the country on water scooters, authorities said Saturday, terming it a 'very dangerous practice.'

The revelation came as Europe's migrant crisis escalated with Austrian police rescuing a group of dehydrated migrants found in a truck, days after the bodies of 71 migrants, believed to be Syrian, were found in an abandoned former poultry lorry.