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1,500 people stuck on MSC Armony cruise ship in Spain due to Bolivian passengers’ visa problems

  • Authorities say 69 Bolivians are not being allowed to leave the ship because they lack valid documents to enter the European Union’s border-free Schengen area
  • Meanwhile, roughly 1,500 other passengers on board the MSC Armony are hoping to continue the cruise to Croatia

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A view of the cruise ship MSC Armony moored in the port of Barcelona, Spain. Photo: AP
A cruise ship reportedly carrying 1,500 passengers was stuck Wednesday in the Spanish northeastern port of Barcelona due to the visa problems of a group of Bolivian passengers who were due to disembark there, officials said.
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Authorities say 69 Bolivians are not being allowed to leave the ship because they lack valid documents to enter the European Union’s border-free Schengen area.

Spanish government officials in the city said they are in contact with Bolivian authorities and the MSC Cruises Company to resolve the situation.

Some 69 Bolivian passengers on board the ship have no valid visa papers to enter the Schengen area, so they were denied the right to disembark. Photo: EPA-EFE
Some 69 Bolivian passengers on board the ship have no valid visa papers to enter the Schengen area, so they were denied the right to disembark. Photo: EPA-EFE
The ship had sailed from Brazil to cover a route in the Mediterranean Sea.

Spanish state news agency Efe and other media said that some 1,500 passengers were meanwhile on board the MSC Armony hoping to continue the cruise to Croatia.

A statement from the Bolivian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the Bolivian Embassy in Spain and the country’s consulate General in Barcelona “are carrying out the pertinent steps to address this case,” coordinating with Spanish authorities, as well as with the MSC Cruises Company.

Passengers on the cruise ship MSC Armony on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Passengers on the cruise ship MSC Armony on Wednesday. Photo: AP

MSC Cruises said in a statement the Bolivians included families and children.

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