About twenty Spaniards land in Paris after being evacuated from Niger

Slightly more than twenty Spaniards residing in Niger arrived early this Thursday at the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris aboard one of the planes sent by the French authorities to evacuate their colony and that of other European countries after the coup of State last week, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Spanish citizens have been received by Victorio Redondo, the Spanish ambassador in France, and Javier Herrera, the consul in Paris, and have been offered accommodation in a hotel, hoping that throughout the day they will be able to travel to Spain in a commercial flight.

The same sources indicated that the Air Force plane prepared to travel to Niger is still waiting to obtain landing permission at the Niamey airport, the capital of the Sahel country, since so far only several flights from France and one from Italy they have obtained it. When he can make the trip, he will pick up the rest of the Spanish citizens and other Europeans. Although the Spanish colony in Niger is estimated at just over 70 people, Foreign Affairs has not revealed how many have asked to be repatriated.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, thanked his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, for the evacuation through a tweet and added: “We continue working on the ground for the rest of our compatriots.”

Niger’s borders have been closed to commercial flights since the military overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and his democratically elected government on Wednesday in the seventh military coup in less than three years in West and Central Africa. The coup has once again fueled concerns about political instability in a country that has been rocked by four other coups since it obtained independence from France in 1960, as well as several frustrated attempts, the last of them in 2021, days before for Bazoum to take office.

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