Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranges return of 12,000 Spaniards from Morocco following imposition of restrictions due to COVID-19

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has arranged the return of more than 12,000 Spaniards and Spanish residents located in Morocco since restrictions on mobility were imposed on 13 March stemming from the pandemic.

Once the Ministry of Health issued Order 410/2020, establishing Barcelona, Alicante and Malaga as ports of entry with capacity to offer international public health emergency care, these operations were authorised to cater for the strong demand from Spaniards and residents in Spain that wanted to come back from Morocco and, with the aim of satisfying this demand, as many as four new operations have been scheduled for 3, 4, 10 and 11 June from Tangier.

However, prior to this, two flights were chartered on 3 April and 7 May, with 340 passengers on-board that were preceded by an extensive operation by each of the Spanish Consulates General in Morocco to facilitate the arrival by bus to Casablanca from where they travelled back to Spain.

Both due to its proximity and to the number of Spaniards and Spanish residents in Morocco, the situation has required a special effort from the ministerial department, particularly from the Spanish Embassy and Consulates General in Morocco, which managed to arrange that, despite the closure of Spanish borders to Ceuta and Melilla, the Moroccan authorities allowed a total of 9,500 Spaniards and 4,500 other Europeans to leave via those routes over a period of 10 days, all assisted by the Spanish consular services in Morocco.

Similarly, and despite the closure of air space on 13 March, the Moroccan air authority was persuaded to allow four flights to depart up to 15 March with Spaniards on-board.

Europe, America, Asia and Pacific Region

As regards the progress in consular services in other geographic areas, Europe is seeing a gradual increase in direct air connections, with new flights scheduled over the course of the month of June. The possibility of returning by land is now viable although travellers should verify travel conditions with their respective consular office and local authorities. Connections with different destinations in North America have not caused consular difficulties to date. Although there has been a decline in direct connections (there is now a direct flight from Dallas with American Airlines), the Spanish Embassies and Consular Offices have been assisting Spaniards to use other indirect routes to return home.

The situation in Latin America and the Caribbean is also positive, with a series of scheduled flights organised by airlines and travel agencies from Honduras, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Chile and Bolivia under commercial conditions. This is in addition to the flight scheduled from Uruguay organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

The Asia Pacific Region also offers alternatives for those who now wish to return to Spain. Accordingly, there are four flights a week on the Manila-Amsterdam route operated by KLM starting this week; the same airline is operating two flights a week on the Delhi-Amsterdam route and commercial options exist from New Zealand.

Hence, the situation is easing up thanks to the gradual re-commencement of operations by some transport operators. However, Spanish embassies and consular offices have noted a lack of urgency from some destinations that are under a lot of pressure. This is the case of Peru, where only six Spaniards decided to take a KLM flight on Monday, 25 May, while another 16 declined to do so awaiting other options.

Non official translation