THE first evacuation flight bringing stranded Spanish nationals back from the conflict-ridden Middle East has taken off as the government initiates emergency measures to protect more than 30,000 nationals currently sheltering in the region.
A commercial flight with 175 Spanish nationals on board is scheduled to land in Madrid from Abu Dhabi at around 7pm this evening – the first of what is expected to be dozens of flights bringing Spaniards back home from the Middle East as war continues to rage between the United States, Israel and Iran.
Speaking at a press conference following a cabinet meeting, foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares stressed that ‘the safety of the more than 30,000 Spanish nationals currently in the region is an absolute priority’.
He urged all Spaniards temporarily displaced in the Middle East to register in the travellers’ register, a move he said would help to ‘improve monitoring and assist capacity’ for evacuation plans.
He indicated that some emergency procedures were already underway, adding: “I will not go into detail until the measures taken have been successfully completed.
“The level of difficulty and duration of each operation varies greatly from one country to another, but we are already using all means, both land and air.”
The Spanish government is understood to be arranging for additional flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Spain, via a layover in Istanbul, Turkey.
However, the feasibility of these air routes will depend on the availability of local airspace, which remains uncertain given the continued use of missiles and drones by American, Israeli and Iranian forces respectively.
READ MORE: Expect petrol prices at the pump to go up as the war in Iran pushes crude up 10% in just one morning
Albares also sought to defend the Spanish government’s current position towards the conflict – the furthest away from the US of any European Union nation – which has included fierce criticism of President Trump over an apparent lack of consideration for international law.
He said: “We cannot resign ourselves to war being the natural way to resolve conflicts. Violence does not bring peace – it brings more violence and chaos.
“We are not alone. We represent the majority sentiment of the Spanish people and the world. There are many more countries that continue to believe in multilateralism.
“We see waves of missiles and drones, we see war spreading into Lebanon, we see energy prices rising. The government must protect the Spanish people.”
Albares also defended prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to refuse to allow American forces to use two air bases in Spain for operations in the Middle East, adding that he did not believe that the snub would lead to reprisals from the US.
He said: “The joint-use bases have a framework within a treaty and are subject to our sovereignty. There is nothing strange about this, we do not expect any consequences. The commitment to Euro-Atlantic security is unequivocal – we have almost 3,000 soldiers deployed.”
Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.
