The first Spaniards evacuated from Niger after the coup

It has been done in collaboration with France and work is being done to bring the rest

MADRID, 3 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, announced this Thursday the arrival of a first group of Spaniards evacuated from Niger after the military coup in the African country.

As reported by Albares with a message on the social network Twitter, the evacuation has been carried out in collaboration with France and work continues to repatriate the rest.

"Today the first Spaniards have arrived from Niger, in collaboration with France. We continue working on the ground for the rest of our compatriots," Albares indicated in his message, in which he thanked the French government for its cooperation.

This Tuesday, the Spanish Government reported that it had begun to work on the evacuation by air of the more than 70 Spaniards located in Niger and once again called for those who had not yet been contacted by the Embassy to contact Get in touch to have them located and to know if they are okay.

Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the decision to evacuate was due to the absence of commercial flights after the closure of airspace in Niger and the instability in the country.

In addition, he recalled that the Spanish Embassy these days has an email and a consular emergency telephone number available to Spaniards in the country to coordinate the evacuation operation.

Last week, a group of soldiers ousted the Nigerian president, Mohamed Bazoum. The coup has once again fueled concerns about political instability in a country that has been rocked by four - now five - coups since it won independence from France in 1960, as well as several failed attempts, the last of them in 2021, days before Bazoum took office.