The Air Force and Space plane that traveled to Niger to evacuate citizens who want to leave the country after the coup has landed at the Torrejón de Ardoz base in Madrid with a total of 74 people, including 16 Spaniards with relatives
The aircraft, an Air Force A330, arrived this Friday morning in the capital of Niger, Niamey, and at around 2:00 p.m. (Spanish time) and took a flight back to Spain with a total of 74 people of 18 nationalities to board.
Specifically, as confirmed by official sources, 16 Spaniards have arrived on the plane with 4 relatives of Nigerian origin, nine citizens of the European Union, six from other European countries, seven Americans, and 32 citizens of 10 other nationalities from Africa, Asia and Oceania.
They were received at the Torrejón air base by the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Luis Cuesta, and the Director of Consular Affairs, Xavier Martí.
The repatriates this Friday join the 8 Spaniards landed in Hannover (Germany) in collaboration with the German Government and the 23 who arrived in Paris. In total, 47 Spaniards and 5 Nigerien relatives of his who requested to be evacuated due to the insecurity situation and the absence of commercial flights to leave the country have been repatriated.
In Niger there was a colony of about 70 Spaniards, although some of them have decided not to leave the country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time. The Spanish embassy will remain open in Niamey with its head of delegation at the helm.
Last week, a group of soldiers ousted the Nigerian president, Mohamed Bazoum. Niger has experienced four other – now five – coups since it obtained independence from France in 1960, as well as several frustrated attempts, the last of them in 2021, days before Bazoum took office.
