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La Voz Canaria

Canarian Government Maintains Objections to Hondius Operation, Avoids "Colonial Treatment" Claim

The regional executive emphasizes its own criteria and the importance of safety in managing the hantavirus-affected vessel in Tenerife.

Generic image of a microphone on a podium during a press conference.
IA

Generic image of a microphone on a podium during a press conference.

The Government of the Canary Islands has reiterated its reservations regarding the management of the Hondius vessel in Tenerife, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, although it has avoided endorsing the "colonial treatment" accusation made by the president of the Cabildo de Tenerife.

Following a meeting of the Governing Council, the spokesperson for the regional Executive, Alfonso Cabello, stated that it is not the right time to make observations on whether the situation reflects a colonial relationship. He emphasized that the Canarian Government is not seeking confrontation and will continue to participate in all meetings with the Government of Spain.
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"The Government of the Canary Islands has its own criteria, and that bothers some, but we have not broken any institutional relationship."

Alfonso Cabello · Spokesperson for the Government of the Canary Islands
The spokesperson assured that the autonomous Executive has not sought confrontation for its own sake and denied any attempt to use hantavirus fears as a strategy for conflict. He recalled that the Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, had used artificial intelligence to argue to the Minister of Health, Mónica García, about rats' swimming abilities and the risk of a prolonged stay of the vessel in the port of Granadilla de Abona.
The department led by the Minister of Health issued a report contradicting the Canarian president, stating that hantavirus-carrying rodents do not swim and that the ship's hygienic conditions were adequate. Cabello noted that this was one of the factors raised by the Government of the Canary Islands, but it was "caricatured".
The Government of the Canary Islands believes that the events unfolding during the disembarkation from the Hondius are proving them right, as two cases of hantavirus have now been confirmed among passengers, and the air operation has changed. They insist that the operation "could have been perfectly concluded in one day, instead of two".
Furthermore, the Government of the Canary Islands has not yet decided whether to take legal action after the State "unilaterally" decided that the ship should anchor in the port of Granadilla, despite the Canarian executive's order to the Port Authority not to authorize its entry. The main objective has always been to guarantee the safety of the population and the Canarian professionals involved.
The demanded premises included knowing the health status of each passenger, the performance of PCR tests, minimizing the operation time, and guaranteeing the air operation. The Government decided not to authorize anchoring as doubts persisted about passenger testing as Sunday approached, and it was assumed that 90% of people would leave that day, but 10% would remain for a flight to Australia on Monday.
It was suggested that there was sufficient capacity to distribute that 10% on Sunday's flights, when a plane to the Netherlands flew with 150 empty seats, but it was responded that it was complicated due to diplomatic issues, and it was unilaterally announced that the operation would end on Monday. The spokesperson regretted that, applying common sense, the operation could have ended earlier, and ultimately "there are two infected people who were in contact with the Canary Islands".

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