First-time Calpe visit for the MOE as Spain’s crack army unit helps to make the town coronavirus-proof

THE Spanish army’s Operacion Balmis deployed to Calpe last Friday.

This was the first time that the Special Operations Command (MOE) has visited the town and soldiers were there to support the local population in the fight against Covid-19, identifying possible infection trouble spots or inadequate infrastructure.

The MOE is working closely throughout the country with security forces, institutions and public administrations to create a fluid relationship enabling all involved to carry out the measures established in the national government’s State of Alert.

Having already inspected Javea and Denia, the MOE moved on to Alfaz, La Nucia and Guadalest after visiting Calpe.

Operacion Balmis is named after Francisco Javier de Balmis y Berenguer, a military surgeon born in Alicante in 1753.

A pioneer of public health, Balmis later headed a military expedition to South America in 1803 to vaccinate the population against smallpox.