The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, said yesterday, after a telephone conversation with the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, that when the weather permits, the search of the sailors missing in the shipwreck of the ‘Villa de Pitanxo’, in Newfoundland, will resume.
In his Twitter account, Sánchez gave an account of his conversation with Trudeau, whom he thanked for the efforts of the Canadian authorities in the search for the Galician fishing boat. “As soon as the weather permits, we will resume our collaboration in the search,” he said.
Moncloa insisted in a statement that it was grateful to Canada for its willingness to resume the search when weather conditions permit. At the same time, it highlighted “the excellent relationship” between the governments of Spain and Canada, which “has been demonstrated once again in the face of the greatest misfortune suffered by the Spanish fishing sector in the last 40 years”.
Pedro Sánchez also announced that Spain will charter an A-400 Air Force plane this Sunday, bound for the airport of San Juan de Terranova, for the repatriation of the three sailors who survived the shipwreck of the ‘Villa de Pitanxo’ and the nine deceased rescued so far.
The Executive explained that the plane will be received in San Juan de Terranova by the Spanish ambassador to Canada, Alfredo Martínez Serrano, and by the Spanish consular authorities in this country.
The consular action is taking place from the moment the shipwreck was reported, at which time the honorary vice-consul was mobilised, until the arrival, a few hours later, of the Spanish consul general in Montreal at the port of San Juan.
Moncloa pointed out that the actions are now focused on “a series of administrative procedures” in which the Spanish consular authority, in coordination with the services of the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, has as its main objective that the repatriation of the victims and survivors is carried out “with all the guarantees, rigour and diligence, as well as the maximum possible speed”.
