Minutes before 1:00 p.m. (Spanish time) the 19 Spaniards from Bahir Dar, trapped since August 2 in a hotel in the city of Addis Zemen, have landed in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The group of 18 tourists, plus the guide, has been joined by a Spaniard of Ethiopian origin, according to sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The group will remain in a hotel in the Ethiopian capital until tomorrow, from where they will be transferred to Madrid on a commercial flight; his arrival in Spain is scheduled for Monday.
They were received at the Addis Ababa airport by the Spanish ambassador to Ethiopia, Manuel Salazar Palma; the consul, Fernando Magallanes, and other members of the embassy to guarantee their immediate departure to Spain on a commercial flight.
The 18 travelers and the tourist guide who were on a truck route through northern Ethiopia were surprised by armed clashes between the Ethiopian Army and the Fano militias.
In full crossfire, the group took refuge in a roadside inn in a village.
Since the start of hostilities, airports have been closed to air traffic and roads blocked, making it difficult for travelers to leave.
The Spanish embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have coordinated, together with other European governments and international organizations, the operation to safely remove Spanish tourists and other nationalities from the country.
The flight from the Ethiopian capital to Madrid will conclude the evacuation operation which, according to these sources, has been possible after intense negotiations by the embassy with senior officials of the Ethiopian Government, including the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser, whom The protection of the group of Spaniards and the dispatch of a military helicopter have been requested.
This helicopter, with enough capacity to be able to evacuate the entire group by air, has been mobilized after verifying that any transfer by road was unfeasible, due to the numerous roadblocks and the presence of militiamen and criminal gangs.
After confirming the sending of the Ethiopian Armed Forces helicopter, the embassy has coordinated, together with the general in command of the forces that control the area, the transfer of the group of Spaniards to Bahir Dar, where they have been staying until their departure this tomorrow on a commercial flight that has taken them to Addis Abbeba.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains its express recommendation, published on its website since August 30, 2022, not to travel for any reason to the regions of Tigray, Amhara, Somali, Gambella, Benishangul Gumuz, western Oromia and other areas, “due to to the fluid security situation”.
