MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2020) Spain is hosting around 40,000 foreign tourists who have been unable to go home and are in self-isolation, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said in a video conference on Wednesday.
"There were around 260,000 foreign tourists in Spain last week, who had to follow the same rules as Spanish citizens ... Many of these tourists returned home, and 40,000 others remain here," she said.
The majority of foreigners are from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and other northern European countries, as well as the United States and Canada. The Spanish authorities are in talks on their repatriation.
Hotels in Spain were ordered shut starting Tuesday as part of the country's coronavirus lockdown, but the minister said some tourist accommodation sites would stay open.
Spain will also continue to evacuate its nationals from abroad, she said. Around 1,200 were flown back over the weekend, with another 5,000 trapped mostly in Latin American countries expected to return by the end of the week.
