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"I am a Spanish citizen. I sold everything I had to come to Spain . This is not a tourist trip, we came to settle there," explains José Antonio Louro, 85, in the cabin of the cruise "with the Italian flag" of the Pacific Coast company where he is trapped with his 93-year-old wife. They set sail on March 3 from Buenos Aires. "We are very bad . "

A week ago, on board the ship 3,780 people arrived in the Canary Islands, 168 of them Spanish, "hours after the government closed ports to cruise ships," says her daughter Mariana. Afterwards, they passed through Malaga, the couple's destination. "The authorities did not let the Spanish down." And in Marseilles only the French landed. "Why is France taking over its citizens and Spain is not?" Asks Mariana.

A married couple caught on a cruise ship with hundreds of Spaniards asks for help

They were promised that from Marseille they could go to Barcelona. "The shipping company does not give us an explanation about our destination, " says José Antonio. "They were told they were going to travel to Spain by bus from France but now they are going to Genoa," recalls Mariana, who is in contact with her father through WhatsApp "every minute."

Many older people travel on the cruise. "They are a population at risk. Is Italy not worse than Spain and France? There are no cases of coronavirus on the ship. How are they going to do to travel from Genoa to Malaga?" Adds Mariana. Family members fight from the ground to find a solution. "The Spanish government ignores us. Nor does the cruise company."

On board, they no longer trust the crew, who promised to get off the ship in France. "There is a lot of uncertainty. They don't know what they are going to do with them. There are people from Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Malaga ... When they left Buenos Aires none of this had happened yet."

On the ship, the situation is delicate. "Most are older people . They are disoriented. They feel helpless," answers Mariana. José Antonio points to his wife in the video, who is holding crutches. "It is quite limited," he warns. "There is another Spanish couple, she is ill, he has had a heart operation. The situation is uncertain ."

José Antonio asks for help. "I appreciate if someone can do something for us. We just want to get to Malaga. I have a rented house in Malaga."

This newspaper has contacted the company responsible for the cruise but has received no response.

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