The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, is leading the largest evacuation operation in Spanish history organised by the MFA. Today, 14 days after the US attacks on Iran and the Iranian regime's response against numerous neighbouring countries in the Middle East, 7,000 Spanish citizens have already been repatriated. To date, there have been no Spanish casualties.
‘All evacuation operations for our compatriots remain open through all possible channels, except for Iran, which was successfully completed last Saturday,’ the Minister assured. ‘Our goal is to repatriate every last Spaniard who wishes to do so: we will not leave any Spaniard behind.’
When the conflict broke out on 28 February, there were more than 31,000 Spanish citizens in the Middle East, with the largest community being in the United Arab Emirates. From day one, the MFA has been assisting those affected through emergency telephone lines, embassies, the traveller registry and the 24/7 crisis room, which has handled more than 6,000 calls.
Instructions have been given and data has been collected on all individuals, including their location and any special needs or particular vulnerability. Staff from embassies in the region have visited hotels, cruise ships and hospitals to assist, support and inform Spanish nationals.
Air and land operations
To date, nine land evacuation operations have been carried out: from Iran to Baku on two occasions (4 and 7 March, the day the Embassy in Tehran was closed); from Jerusalem to Jordan (6 March); from Tel Aviv to Cairo (6 March); from Bahrain to Riyadh on two occasions (6 and 7 March); from Kuwait to Riyadh on three occasions (6, 7 and 9 March); and three air evacuation operations with Defence aircraft to Muscat (4, 6 and 9 March). In addition, a fourth aircraft is scheduled to fly to Riyadh to allow Spaniards in Qatar to leave if circumstances require.
Arrangements have also been made with all the airlines affected to rebook Spanish passengers on all commercial flights they have operated, particularly in the case of Qatar.
At present, the airspace of many countries in the region remains closed or partially open for limited repatriation operations.
Diplomatic reinforcement
In order to better assist those affected, since 2 March the MFA has reinforced the diplomatic team at the most affected embassies.
The embassy in the United Arab Emirates, home to the largest Spanish community in the Middle East, has been reinforced with two diplomats; the embassy in Oman with three diplomats, to assist with land departures from the Emirates and the arrival point for Defence flights; and the embassy in Saudi Arabia with four diplomats to manage land departures to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Work is also underway to send diplomatic reinforcements to the Honorary Consulate of Spain in Sri Lanka.
Updated information
Since the beginning of the conflict, the MFA has updated its travel recommendations for Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Syria and Iraq. These are continuously reviewed and updated in line with developments in the conflict and the situation on the ground.
Social media is also constantly updated with useful information for citizens, such as self-protection measures, instructions from local authorities, 24/7 emergency telephone numbers for embassies, additional lines set up for the same purpose, also operating 24/7, the situation in the airspace, airports and border posts, and information on land operations organised by the embassies.
For this reason, the MFA and the Minister himself, José Manuel Albares, have made numerous appeals to citizens who are still affected to closely follow the information provided through all the embassies' channels and social media accounts.
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