The Diplomat
More than 300 Spaniards who were in India, Indonesia and Nepal arrived yesterday in Madrid on various flights, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On a flight chartered by the government from New Delhi, with a stopover in Goa, 234 passengers arrived, including 191 Spaniards, other European citizens and foreigners residing in our country.
As there was no other possible alternative for the departure of the passengers from India, the flight was carried out under the European Mechanism of Civil Protection, for which the European Commission will reimburse up to 75 per cent.
In addition, the Government facilitated that a total of 53 Spaniards from Bali (Indonesia) and 47 from Nepal arrived yesterday in Spain, via Lisbon and Paris respectively.
Foreign Affairs estimates that with the 500 Spaniards who will have returned this weekend, the return of 20,000 Spanish tourists will have been completed, although there are still hundreds left in places from where the return is complicated, including some 250 in the Philippines.
In the case of Australia and New Zealand, the Foreign Service is waiting to see if the hundred passengers who have tickets with Qatar Airways can return or not -because Qatar has decided to suspend the connections between Doha and Spain- before implementing other solutions. These places are a priority focus for consular officials.