The operation of the MV Hondius goes ahead despite the resistance of the Canarian Government, the refusal of the Port Authority of Tenerife and the opposition of PP and VOX

Fulfilling the planned schedule, the cruise ship MV Hondius is already anchored in the port of Granadilla. However, while the ship was completing the last hours of its voyage before reaching Tenerife waters, the political battle continued to be waged on solid ground. "The Government of the Canary Islands is not going to authorize the anchoring of the ship," assured the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, a few hours before the arrival of the shipping company.

Thus, it rejected again that the ship could anchor because, as Clavijo explained, “without having all the available information” and without understanding the decisions of the central Government, they could not cooperate. A criticism that it has repeated throughout the week since the WHO requested formal aid from Spain.

Clavijo even went so far as to assure that he had not received "not a single call" from the central Government, an assertion subsequently denied by the Executive. Later it became known —as confirmed by Cadena SER— that during that period up to 18 calls were exchanged between both administrations.

Finally, the operation has continued its course and will extend during the next hours, presumably until Monday afternoon, when it is expected that the last passengers abandon the cruise ship heading to their countries of origin. Something that has generated greater anger on the part of the Canarian administration, which has denounced “the systematic refusal of the three ministers who have come, who do not listen to reasons nor explain scientifically,” assured the Canarian president, the decisions adopted.

In addition to Clavijo, the president of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Pedro Suárez, also showed his reticence to the operation during the week. Suárez even assured that “he would have the last word” on the decision to allow the docking of the cruise ship. Finally, the management has remained in the hands of the Directorate General of the Merchant Marine.

The highest official of the state body, Ana Núñez, has left open the possibility that the vessel may dock or remain anchored, leaving the definitive decisions in the hands of the health authorities. A last movement adopted after a resolution signed in Madrid given the refusal to anchor by the Tenerife port, announced at midnight on Saturday, which, as the holder of the management of the port of Granadilla, “would prevent anchoring beyond the twelve agreed hours”.

Landing until Monday

The last repatriation flight is scheduled for tomorrow and will be the one destined for Australia, with Australian and New Zealand passengers on board. The Canarian Executive, which rejects extending the anchoring time and considers it unnecessary to wait for the arrival of the last planes on Monday, has warned that any extension of the deadlines will be "under the responsibility" of the central Government.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Mónica García, who continues to supervise the operation on the ground, has assured that “the experts who have boarded the ship inform us that the passengers remain asymptomatic”.

As planned, the first to disembark will be the Spanish citizens. Afterwards, the passengers who will travel on a plane chartered by the Netherlands will do so, among them citizens of Germany, Belgium, Greece and part of the crew. In addition, the five French citizens aboard the MV Hondius will also be repatriated today “on a sanitary flight” bound for France, according to a joint statement from the French ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs.

PP and VOX raise the political noise during the health crisis

“We need certainties, and the Government does not provide them.” This week, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, expressed himself thus, who has recovered the ghost of COVID to confront the Executive on account of the health crisis, while the WHO and other international organizations appreciate the coordination and response offered by the Government of Pedro Sánchez.

VOX also hardened its tone. Its leader, Santiago Abascal, assured that “Pedro Sánchez has no scruples and is even capable of provoking an epidemic so that the swamp of corruption he presides over is not talked about”.