Concern is growing among the twenty Spanish tourists who have been trapped in a hotel in Ethiopia since the country’s government declared a state of emergency on August 4. After weeks of rising tensions and fighting by the Fano militia, a former ally of the federal army, against Ethiopian troops, the government finds itself cornered by the militias, which have taken control of various regions of the country.
Since then, the tourists – all of them Catalans who traveled through two different travel agencies – have been sheltering in a hotel in the Amhara region after being surprised by open fire between different militias. The Foreign Ministry maintains constant contact with them and “strongly” advises them not to leave the hotel where they are.
Ethiopian Airlines – the only company that provides national connections to the general public – on Tuesday canceled its scheduled flights from Wednesday to Friday to the capital of Amhara, Bahir Dar, the last airport in operation in this region, now in the hands of the Fano militia. .
Foreign Affairs affirms that both the Embassy and the Spanish Consulate have been monitoring the situation from day one and maintain daily contact with the group. “The Embassy is taking steps with local authorities, international organizations present in the area and other embassies to seek a possible coordinated solution,” they indicate.
Rac1 has spoken with Núria, one of the Catalan tourists sheltering in the hotel in Ethiopia. In statements to the Godó Group, Núria has “urgently asked all the authorities to hurry up to get them out of the place.” She also warns that “they are not in the necessary sanitary conditions”, in addition to being housed in rooms “full of fleas and mosquitoes, without running water and with very precarious food.”
One of the concerns of refugee tourists is being able to cope with malaria. As Núria explains, “the medication is running out”, since it must be taken into account that the trip was scheduled to end last Saturday. The Catalan tourist assures that she was prepared for the trip since she “had consulted the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” and that she had not found “any notice” so that they could not travel to the African country.
Meritxell Serret, Minister of Foreign Action and the European Union, has also spoken on the station to ensure that they are “working to discreetly accompany those affected” although she acknowledges that the situation is “complex”. However, the minister assures that the communication is “constant” to be able to rescue the refugees “as soon as possible”. According to the information handled by the Generalitat, Serret affirms that despite the fact that the situations are “precarious”, the tourists are in a place located “far from the line of combat”.
Núria, the affected Catalan tourist, has asked the minister that the authorities work with the telephone companies so that they do not cut the lines, since she assures that there are tourists who “have no way of communicating.”
