The Egyptian embassy in Madrid said a special flight will take place on Thursday to repatriate Egyptian nationals stranded in Spain, Ahram Online reported on Sunday. The Air Cairo flight will leave from Barcelona and land in Marsa Alam in Red Sea governorate, where the passengers will be quarantined for 14 days, the embassy said in a statement on Sunday. The embassy stressed that the flight is only for students or citizens who were on a short business or touristic trip to the European country and no longer have accommodation, and was not open to Egyptian residents of Spain. Those who would like to return on the flight should pay for the tickets and the accommodation at the quarantine hotel either online or at the Air Cairo headquarters in Egypt, the embassy explained. Spain has recorded over 196,000 coronavirus cases since the coronavirus outbreak started, and its death toll exceeds 20,000. On Saturday, Marsa Alam received a flight of over 200 Egyptians who had been stranded in Canada. The passengers on board the repatriation flight from Toronto were quarantined at a local hotel in the city. Also on Saturday, Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafy announced that 323 Egyptians who had arrived from Washington on 3 April and had been in quarantine would travel home to Cairo after concluding the 14-day quarantine period. The Egyptian government has said it will quarantine all nationals returning to the country from abroad, and is requiring returnees to sign a written acknowledgement that they agree to the quarantine before boarding repatriation flights. Egypt announced on Saturday its highest single-day rise in new cases, with 188 new patients and 19 new deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 3,032 and the total fatalities to 224.
