A group of 22 Spaniards crosses the border from Iran and heads towards Madrid

MadridA group of 22 Spaniards crossed the border between Iran and Azerbaijan by land this afternoon. "They are now safe," announced Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on the radio program X. From there, they will travel to Madrid via Baku (Azerbaijan) and Istanbul (Turkey). They are expected to arrive in Spain on Thursday. In this context, Albares noted that the Spanish embassy in Tehran remains "fully operational" with "essential staff" and Ambassador Antonio Sánchez-Benedito at the helm. Furthermore, the ministry has reinforced the diplomatic staff at the embassies in Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain to assist in the evacuation and "ensure" that all Spanish citizens who "wish to" can return home. "We will not leave any Spaniard behind," Albares affirmed. Earlier in the day, from Moncloa Palace, Pedro Sánchez had expressed himself in the same vein: "We will protect our compatriots, we are looking for evacuation options."

Likewise, the Ministry of Defense has sent towards the Persian Gulf A Spanish Air Force plane with a capacity for more than 300 people is being used to repatriate citizens stranded in the conflict. The A330 took off this morning from the Torrejón de Ardoz air base and has landed This afternoon. In addition, the Spanish government is repatriating citizens from various countries in the region using available commercial flights. This Monday The first 175 citizens of the State arrived in Madridwho flew from Abu Dhabi. The Foreign Ministry estimates that 30,000 Spaniards were in the conflict zone when the war broke out, and the Catalan government has counted 1,200 Catalans in the Middle East.

29 pilgrims and a basketball team

This Wednesday, repatriated citizens continued to land in Spain. A group of 29 pilgrims arrived at Barajas Airport after being trapped in Jerusalem on Saturday when the conflict erupted. They landed in Madrid after having to travel 1,200 kilometers – seventeen hours – by bus to Cairo, Egypt, due to the closure of Israeli airspace. The Valencia Basket junior team also returned to Valencia after being trapped for four days in Abu Dhabi – confined to their hotel – where they were participating in a Euroleague tournament. "There was no unrest because the locals were going about their lives more or less normally. There were times when you could hear explosions, but we didn't see anything, we only heard them," said the team's coach, Gonzalo Muinelo.