First Malaga tourists stranded by Middle East conflict return aboard military and commercial flights

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SUR keeps collecting updates from the groups in different points of the world who cannot return due to the airspace closure

Chus Heredia

Thursday, 5 March 2026, 15:09

The first two groups of Malaga tourists stranded by the Middle East armed conflict and the subsequent airspace closure in the Persian Gulf have already started their journey back home.

The group of 21 people in Oman (proceeding from Sri Lanka) returned to Europe on Thursday aboard two military planes: one Spanish and one Italian. The first group landed in Madrid and the second in Milan.

Among the tourists, who spent last week's school break in Sri Lanka, is Cristian Hidalgo. He has been recording their return odyssey over the last few days. "We were supposed to land in Doha and were diverted to Oman. We were lucky because we know that things are worse in Dubai and Doha. Here, when we arrived, the company put us in a very good hotel, all included, and the embassy has been contacting us," he said in one of his first videos, while they were still in Oman.

Upon their landing in Madrid, the group started looking for ways to return to Malaga. Their last video says that they have hired vans. They thanked the central and the regional governments, as well as the military, for their support.

Despite this happy news, there are still many Spanish residents waiting to return.

The group from Vélez-Málaga and the two teachers in Oman

Another lucky group of tourists are going back home on Thursday, but this time aboard an Emirates commercial flight. These are the 27 people from Vélez-Málaga who had spent the week in Dubai.

"They left the hotel at 1.30am. The flight left at 7am," head of Viajes Xamoní travel agency Martín Martínez told SUR. Everything was coordinated with the help of the guide who had accompanied the tourists during their trip.

Martínez said that they had been monitoring the flight status over the night so that they could inform the guide when to act.

On the first day of the conflict, José Moyano from the Vélez group said that they had started hearing "some strange things" after their visit of the Burj Khalifa.

The team of Viajes Xamoní have also managed to arrange a flight through Istanbul for the two teachers who had spent the school break on a cruise.

The agency sent them to Muscat Airport in Oman and then to Istanbul, "where they will have a long stopover". The fact that they are on the road, however, is already a reason for them to be happy.