www.viajainformado.gob.es
The Diplomat. 24/07/2018
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, Josep Borrell, yesterday presented the campaign ‘Travel safe, travel Informed’, with a new website for the 15 million Spaniards who plan to travel abroad in the summer holidays.
«We want to promote the campaign, which has been active for a long time, because every year the number of Spaniards who spend their holidays abroad increases», Borrell said at a press conference. The Foreign Minister warned that the likelihood of an incident «is not low» and asked travelers to know better the country to which they go.
«Insurance companies have had to serve 500,000 Spaniards abroad; we must ask citizens before starting a trip to take all necessary measures of information and security», he said. Borrell recalled that the option of getting insurance when undertaking a trip outside Spain is a «private decision», but asked tourists to go abroad to take into account that the Ministry «unfortunately does not have the means or resources to repatriate» to those affected.
Along the same lines, the General Secretary of the Spanish Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Entities (Unespa), Mirenchu del Valle, said that it is essential to travel with insurance. «The only thing Unespa wish is for Spaniards to travel more informed and safer and let them know insurance is part of the planning of the trip», she said.
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The insurance companies had to attend last year to 500,000 Spaniards who were abroad
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Borrell also took the opportunity to emphasize that, in many countries, health care does not meet Spanish standards. «Yes, we have an extensive network of embassies and consulates to help Spanish citizens», he said.
The minister thanked, finally, Telefónica and Orange for the fact that they facilitate the sending of SMS messages to Spaniards traveling abroad «telling them which is the nearest Consulate and their telephone number», and asked the Spaniards to register as travelers in the Ministry’s list, something that «very few» of them do at present.
