The Spanish Ambassador to Kuwait and Bahrain, Miguel Moro Aguilar, announced the opening of a number of new visa centers at his country's embassy in Kuwait, coinciding with the travel and tourism season.
Moro pointed out that the center was launched to facilitate the process of issuing visas to citizens and residents, explaining that the center is characterized by the use of the latest technology and the provision of various services to visitors, He continued that the embassy prepared well for the summer season in terms of increasing the number of work crews in proportion to the strong demand for issuing visas.
The ambassador explained that his country is one of the favorite tourist and medical destinations for Kuwaitis and residents, as Spain has the best ophthalmologists in the world, pointing out that his country received about 85 million tourists last year from all over the world.
The ambassador revealed that nearly 30,000 visas were issued last year, and pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism in his country revealed in statistics a very large number of tourists moving between Spanish cities, which reflects the diversity and richness of Spanish culture.
The ambassador continued that during the previous April of this year, the Spanish visa section at the embassy received more than 9,000 visa applications, including about 5,000 for Kuwaitis. Statistics also indicate that the number is likely to rise as the summer approaches, supported by the European Union’s recent approval of the Schengen visa for a period of 5 years for all Kuwaitis, provided that the validity of their passports allows for this long period.
The ambassador added that the Kuwaiti Embassy in Spain opens a temporary office annually, due to the increase in the number of Kuwaiti tourists arriving in the city of Torremolinos, in order to provide consular services to Kuwaitis residing between June and September in Malaga.
The ambassador stated that coordination had been made with the new visa office to prevent the interference of other offices to tamper with them, and it also helps in determining a specific mechanism to provide appointments and not allow any tampering with them, explaining that the current visa office receives all types of visas, including tourist, study and medical.
The ambassador concluded his press statement that he hopes to reopen a direct flight line from Kuwait to Madrid, and he has received promises to open it during this season, noting that there are also promises to increase flights to Barcelona and Malaga during the next season, as the number of flights to Barcelona will increase by four flights weekly.