Spanish police have arrested 8 people suspected of recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria.

They were arrested on Friday in Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city in North Africa.

The group is accused of recruiting, indoctrinating and financing the travel of jihadist fighters sent to Syria.

Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said on Saturday that some of the volunteers ended up as fighters for the Islamist Nusra Front.

Nusra's brigades have led some of the most successful rebel offensives against President Bashar al-Assad's forces but the group was formally designated a terrorist organisation by Washington six months ago.

The suspects were flown to Madrid and will appear in court on Monday.