Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García has said the government is prepared to use its full legal powers — including quarantine measures — as a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak approaches the Canary Islands.
Speaking in Madrid, García stressed that authorities have ‘legal tools to protect public health’, though she stopped short of confirming whether isolation measures would be mandatory. She said all decisions would be guided strictly by health and safety criteria.
‘When they arrive, we will conduct an assessment and ask for their consent to carry out these evaluations, day by day, with international experts, for the duration of that quarantine,’ the minister said.
The warning comes as the Dutch-flagged vessel MV Hondius — at the centre of an international health alert — is expected to reach Tenerife within days after departing Cape Verde. Authorities say evacuations of passengers are set to begin from 11 May. ALSO READ: Hantavirus-hit cruise ship eyes Canary Islands after Cape Verde refusal.
García had initially said the ship would head to Granadilla, on Tenerife, where ‘a joint system for health assessment and evacuation will be put in place to repatriate all passengers, unless their medical condition prevents it’.
However, regional authorities later clarified that the vessel will not dock, but instead remain anchored offshore while passengers are transferred to land in controlled conditions.
After two days of tensions between Madrid and the Canary Islands over how to handle the crisis, both sides sought to calm the dispute following a high-level meeting held in Madrid. ALSO READ: Canary Islands reject virus-hit cruise ship as Madrid pushes ahead with docking plan.
García and the Minister of Territorial Policy Víctor Angel Torres met with the president of the Canary Islands regional government Fernando Clavijo to discuss management of the health alert (main image).
Following the meeting, Clavijo said the vessel would not physically dock at the island of Tenerife, but instead remain offshore. Passengers would be transferred by smaller boats and then taken directly to the airport.
‘A piece of good news we have been given is that the ship will not dock under any circumstances — it will only anchor offshore. We believe this is very positive because it reduces potential vectors of contagion and risk,’ Clavijo said.
‘The evacuation of passengers will therefore be carried out by launch or support vessels that can collect them, transfer them, and take them to the airport.’
He added: ‘At no point will passengers leave the ship until the aircraft is ready at the airport, and everything will be done with full guarantees to prevent any kind of contagion or transmission.’
Clavijo also said that, according to information provided by García, health checks would be carried out on passengers throughout the remainder of the voyage, and that a specialist from the World Health Organization (WHO) was already on board to monitor any potential spread.
Earlier in the day, García criticised what she described as ‘political noise, which does not help to build confidence’, while the regional government called for ‘loyalty’ amid complaints over a lack of information. The debate has also intensified over whether quarantine should be compulsory for the 14 Spanish passengers on board.
Spanish media citing interior ministry sources said European Union countries will organise the return of their own nationals, while the European Commission would step in if needed. Plans for non-EU passengers are still being finalised. ‘All the passengers will remain on the cruise ship until the arrival of their planes,’ the sources added.
Spain’s 14 nationals on board — including one crew member — will be transferred to the Gómez Ulla Military Hospital in Madrid.
The outbreak has already claimed three lives, prompting global concern after the WHO was alerted over the weekend. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus later confirmed that three suspected cases — including a doctor — had been evacuated from the vessel off Cape Verde and were being transferred to the Netherlands for treatment.
Complicating the response, a separate medical evacuation operation involving hantavirus patients faced technical setbacks in Spain. A specialised aircraft carrying two infected individuals was forced to divert to the Canary Islands after Morocco refused a refuelling stop en route from Cape Verde to Amsterdam.
While grounded, a failure in the electrical system of a patient’s isolation chamber delayed the journey further. Spanish authorities subsequently blocked the plane’s departure after determining that replacement batteries provided locally lacked sufficient autonomy to maintain medical support for the remainder of the flight.
Officials said the crew ‘will have to wait’ for a replacement aircraft. A separate plane later departed without patients, making a technical stop at Valencia’s Manises Airport before continuing to Istanbul.
The two patients were eventually transferred to another medical aircraft, which resumed its journey to the Netherlands from the Canary Islands at around 3am on Thursday.
The Health Ministry said the transfer was carried out ‘following the established health and safety protocols, in coordination with the competent authorities and the company responsible for the transfer’.
The MV Hondius, which left Ushuaia in Argentina on 1 April with 88 passengers and 59 crew of 23 nationalities, remains under close international monitoring as Spain prepares for its arrival and the complex evacuation operation ahead.
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La colaboración solo puede darse con información, rigor y respeto a Canarias.
— Fernando Clavijo (@FClavijoBatlle) May 7, 2026
Hoy he vuelto a trasladar al Estado nuestro rechazo a que el crucero recale en Canarias. Hemos logrado que el Gobierno estatal acepte la propuesta planteada por las islas para que el barco no atraque… pic.twitter.com/A9w7R4nD0C
Hemos tenido una reunión productiva con el presidente de Canarias, Fernando Clavijo.
— Mónica García (@Monica_Garcia_G) May 7, 2026
Le hemos trasladado la necesidad de actuar desde la responsabilidad institucional. En una situación de salud pública como esta, la coordinación y la confianza entre instituciones forman parte… pic.twitter.com/Fo2ppvURp5
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