The Diplomat
The MSC Armonía ship, on which 1,500 people are traveling, on a cruise that began its journey in Brazil, was detained on Tuesday in the Port of Barcelona, after it was found that 69 Bolivian passengers were on board, who did not have visas. valid to disembark in a Schengen Area country.
The shipping company noted that the documentation “seemed” appropriate at the time of boarding of the passengers in Brazil, but that the Port of Barcelona authorities did not consider it so. The rest of the passengers whose final destination was Barcelona were able to go ashore and also, for a few hours, those who were going to continue on the last part of the trip, towards Croatia.
According to some information, the 69 Bolivians, among whom there are 14 minors, could have been victims of a scam, having purchased a cruise package that included a visa for a value that could reach up to $10,000. Some of them were supposedly going to meet relatives who were waiting for them at the port of Barcelona, which was their final destination.
Sources from the National Police Corps (CNP) informed Efe that the visas of these Bolivian citizens are false and that they are investigating whether those responsible for the cruise ship were aware of this alleged infraction.
Yesterday afternoon, the ship remained docked in the port, while the company tried to solve the problem with the authorities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia issued a statement in which it assured that both the country’s Embassy in Spain and the Consulate General in Barcelona are taking steps to address the case.
In the statement, Bolivia asks that “the human rights” of Bolivians be respected and affirms that the company must find “an immediate solution to the situation in which our compatriots now find themselves, since their obligation was to corroborate the entry documents or departure from any destination that offers its services”.
The cruise ship was to have departed the same Tuesday from Barcelona, heading to Croatia. According to the newspaper El País, when the ship stopped in Tenerife, the Bolivian travelers were able to disembark, but upon arriving at the port of Malaga they were not allowed to get off, when the false visas were detected.
Bolivian citizens did not require a visa to make short-stay trips of 90 days to countries that are part of the Schengen area until 2007, when a decision adopted by European governments to respond to the increase in the migratory flow from Bolivia came into force.
In 2015, the Bolivian Government and the European Union (EU) began negotiations to eliminate the Schengen visa requirement for Bolivians making short-term trips to these countries.
The issue was addressed again in 2022 in a “high-level” dialogue in La Paz, although the visa requirement for Bolivians is currently still in force.
