• Direct. Last minute about the coronavirus crisis
  • The map: the advance of the coronavirus in Spain
  • Defense.'Operación Balmis': this was the largest military deployment in Spain of democracy

Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, assured this Monday in the Congress of Deputies that the military "knocked down consciences" for the situation of nursing homes in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. During her appearance in the Defense commission, the minister assured that once the crisis is overcome, society must review the care of its elders.

Robles appeared in the Lower House to provide the deputies with the main lines of the Balmis operation , an operation that, as confirmed by the minister, is already in the withdrawal phase, depending on the requests of the different Administrations.

Margarita Robles defended the actions of the men and women of the Armed Forces, and assured that in no case "has there been any political orientation in this operation."

In the minister's words, the military have participated and are participating in this operation with a single objective: to save lives, without political appraisals and without looking at geographical areas. In this sense, he assured that the successes of the operation are all of the Armed Forces, "and the errors are mine; the negative that may have been solely my responsibility," said Robles.

The Minister of Defense described the work carried out by the army personnel and sent a message of hope: "We are moving forward. It seems that we see the light at the end of the tunnel. For this reason, the operation itself is adapting to current circumstances "

"It is not a political drama, but a human one"

Robles explained that the Armed Forces have carried out more than 17,000 actions in more than 2,800 locations throughout the country. He highlighted the human work carried out by the military personnel in the transfer and custody of the deceased in the morgues.

"His task has been extraordinary. This operation has been carried out with the utmost dignity and the utmost respect, with all the love and respect, and with a prayer for the believers." "We have never left them alone, we were not going to leave them behind," said the minister, who was told by the military commanders.

Robles detailed the affected military personnel: 1,250 from the Spanish Army , 533 from the Navy and 84 members of the Air Force , in addition to 3% of the 3,000 members of the Military Emergency Unit ( UME ).

"What we are suffering will be part of the history of our country. And I want to thank everyone, the hundreds of mayors, councilors from all the communities with whom we have felt united. This is not a political drama, it is a human drama, "acknowledged the minister.

Robles has also thanked the head of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez Almeida, for their collaboration. "It is the moment in which all the political forces work together to overcome this situation as soon as possible and work for reconstruction," he concluded.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Margaret Robles
  • Isabel Díaz Ayuso
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • Congress of Deputies

InterviewMargarita Robles: "With thousands of deaths, can anyone think that the legislature will be the same?"

Defense 'Operation Balmis': this was the largest military deployment in Spain of democracy

DefenseThe military centers their priorities in the prisons and they already decontaminate more than 80 penitentiary facilities