There are no free flights back to Spain from Morocco and the embassy only reserves places for Spaniards who are in the areas most affected by the magnitude 7 earthquake last night, which has left more than a thousand dead. In any case, the Spanish Government has provided emergency telephone numbers for those affected and their families.
Trapped tourists are eager to return home after some were left without accommodation due to damage to buildings. Nuria, a 50-year-old woman from Madrid, is waiting with her husband and two daughters in a hotel in Marrakech, waiting to find free seats on a plane back to Spain, after having spent the night outdoors as a result of the earthquake with its epicenter in the town of Ighil, located about 70 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech.
We had to buy flights even worth a thousand euros
“The hotel is in a popular neighborhood, 1.7 kilometers from the souk, and the neighbors are very humble people who, despite the little they have, have shared their blankets with us so that we could get some sleep,” she says gratefully. statements to Efe.
In the morning they contacted the Spanish consulate, which informed them that they were not going to be repatriated on any flight, since the available seats will be allocated to Spaniards who are in the most affected areas.
“We are looking to see if there are gaps on any flights, but nothing, we will surely have to wait until Tuesday, which is when we were scheduled to return to Spain,” he says. Both she and the rest of the group of Spaniards with whom she travels remain in the hotel, although they can go out. “They have asked us not to approach the area of the souk and the medina, which must be destroyed,” and not to hinder the rescue work.
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Another of the witnesses who have survived the strong earthquake is the Spanish Irene Seixas, who was in the medina of Marrakech at the time of the earthquake. After spending the night outdoors, in the cold and without any blanket to cover himself with, Seixas is also looking for a way to return to Spain.
“We started looking for flights and they sold out in no time. We had to buy flights worth even a thousand euros to try to leave sooner. The same goes for hotels. We came to the new area of Marrakech to look for accommodation. Now we have managed to get a room in Cristiano Ronaldo’s hotel on the outskirts of Marrakech,” he detailed in statements to RTVE’s 24h channel.
Despite having contacted the Spanish embassy, Seixas claims that they were not provided any type of help. “We just wanted to know what to do. They told us there was no protocol. We Spaniards who gather in the street are disappointed. They have told us that unless there are deaths they could not assist us. I hope we can return soon,” he declared.
Embassies and consulates
Emergency numbers
The Spanish Embassy in Morocco has provided telephone numbers to attend to emergencies of people directly affected, immediate family members or in need.
• Consular Emergency Telephone 910001249
The embassies in Rabat and the consulates general are fully operational:
• Consular emergency telephone number of the Consulate General of Casablanca: +212660488848
• Consulate General telephone number enabled for this emergency: +212665807977
