The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation will send a plane to India tomorrow, with a capacity for almost 300 travelers, which will facilitate the return of more than 200 Spaniards along with other Europeans who were surprised by the restrictions on mobility. imposed in all countries by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The flight to India, which will be carried out under the European Civil Protection Mechanism due to the fact that there is no other possible alternative for travelers to leave the country, departs from Madrid for New Delhi and then continues to Goa and, after the mandatory rest periods. of the crew, return to Madrid on Sunday.
In India there are a total of 232 Spanish tourists who had expressed to the Embassy their interest in leaving the country and who no longer had commercial alternatives to do so. The strong dispersion of the travelers forced to make an exhaustive exercise of concentration of diverse points of the vast Indian geography to, in turn, proceed to their return from Goa and New Delhi.
With this operation, the Spanish Embassy in India would have already facilitated the departure of the country to most of the Spanish travelers who had requested it, although there have also been groups of people who have refused to move to one of its concentration points for later departure and others that, due to the rush, did not have the ability to arrive on time.
America, Asia and Pacific
Another operation that can also be terminated, except for specific cases that can be registered and to which an answer would be given on other European flights, as in the case of India, is that of the Spanish Embassy in Ecuador that has allowed the 984 Spaniards and 462 Europeans returned to Spain. The Spanish Embassy in Cuba has also assisted the return of those who have requested it. 1,620 Spaniards have left Cuba since March 17 and only three have been unable to do so for specific reasons. The last three Iberia flights from Havana to Madrid have already traveled with 324 empty seats.
The Spanish Embassy in Peru has also already carried out the bulk of the operations with the arrival of 700 passengers between yesterday and today; The last three flights coordinated by the Embassy of Spain in the Dominican Republic have facilitated the return of 750 Spaniards and two other operations by the Embassy in Argentina are still pending with two flights to Buenos Aires that would take Argentines and that would return with Spaniards next week. .
The situation in Asia and the Pacific casts better expectations after the Spanish Embassy in Indonesia made it easier for a total of 100 Spaniards to relocate to Qatar Airways flights in recent days. With the coordination of the Spanish Embassy in Japan, a plane with 126 travelers landed in Madrid yesterday (101 Spanish and the rest of other EU countries); to which should be added another 40 Spaniards arriving today from Laos on a flight organized by Germany.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation maintains its network of Embassies and Consulates permanently deployed to serve those Spaniards who are still trying to return to Spain and for whom it has open all the communication and information channels that serve its more than 4,500 officials.