Spain confirms 1.5 million foreign nationals fled country during Covid-19 pandemic

By Pepi Sappal • Published: 24 Apr 2020 • 22:34

Around 1.5 million people, from within and outside the European Union, have left Spain since the pandemic started.

SPAIN’S Foreign Ministry has confirmed that over one and a half million foreign nationals fled the country during Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Arancha González Laya, Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister, around 1.5 million people – from within and outside the European Union – have left Spain since the pandemic started. She added that Spain also helped to repatriate many foreigners back to their home countries, as well as repatriate thousands of Spanish nationals back home during the coronavirus crisis.

“The majority of people leaving Spain were tourists and people living here temporarily in either holiday homes or visiting family and friends,” stated Laya. A large percentage were also students studying in Spain on projects, such as Erasmus, who were given special permission to return to their families in their home countries.

Spain receives millions of tourists from around the world each year. More than 83 million tourists visited the country last year alone, according to the National Statistics Institute. Of that figure, around 10.6 million visited Andalucia.