The Diplomat
The Spanish Government yesterday put itself at the disposal of the Moroccan Government to help alleviate the consequences of the earthquake that occurred on Friday night in the neighboring country and which has caused more than 2.000 deaths and more than 2.000 injuries.
From New Delhi, where he was participating in the G-20 summit, the acting Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, indicated that he had spoken with his Moroccan colleague, Nasser Bourita, and with the country’s ambassador in Madrid, Karima Benyaich, to convey the Government’s condolences and in order to make available to Morocco help to rescue the victims and collaboration for future reconstruction.
“Both the Emergency Military Unit (UME) and Spanish cooperation, the Spanish Embassy in Rabat and the Spanish consulates, are at the entire disposal of Morocco,” said the minister.
At midday yesterday Albares indicated that he was not aware that Morocco had asked Spain for help with rescue tasks, but he insisted on Spain’s availability, stressing that it is a neighboring country and a strategic partner of Morocco.
The Ministry of the Interior, through the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies, activated the State Committee for International Support of Civil Protection to be able to provide an immediate response in the event that the Moroccan authorities request help.
Sources from the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Europa Press that the General Directorate of Civil Protection contacted the Military Emergency Unit (UME) and the Community of Madrid, the two organizations that have USAR teams (search and rescue in urban areas) internationally certified, for possible deployment.
Around thirty Andalusian firefighters will be part of the international teams deployed to Morocco to collaborate in the rescue tasks. Four teams from the Group of Specialists in Canine Rescue in Catastrophes Arcón Method (Gerccma) also travel from Andalusia.
Regarding possible Spanish victims, Minister Albares pointed out that until that moment there was no record of any Spaniards killed or injured in the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale, and which mainly affected the southern area of Morocco, including the city of Marrakech, a very common tourist destination.
Albares explained that the Spanish Embassy in Morocco has activated an additional telephone number to attend to emergencies of possibly affected Spaniards and has appealed to all those who are in that country on vacation or temporarily for work and who are not registered for to contact the consular emergency telephone numbers.
In a publication on his profile on the social network “X”, the Embassy recalled that “in case of need” Spaniards in the country can contact the consular emergency telephone numbers.
For his part, His Majesty the King sent a telegram of condolence to the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, whom he describes as “dear brother” and to the “dear Moroccan people”, for the victims of the earthquake. Don Felipe, on his behalf, and on behalf of the Government and the people of Spain, expresses his “desolation” and his “deep feeling of pain” for the consequences of the disaster.
From his “X” account, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, also expressed his condolences to Morocco and stated: “Spain is with the victims of this tragedy and their families.” On the same social network, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, wrote: “All my support and solidarity with our neighboring country, my condolences to the families of the deceased and my wishes for recovery to the injured.”
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, announced, also from “X”, that the European Commission has activated “the Copernicus Emergency Management Service to support activities that improve situational awareness with mapping of affected areas ” because of the earthquake.
