The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, joined Her Majesty The Queen on Wednesday at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport to bid farewell to the 44 volunteer healthcare professionals, logisticians and cooks from the START field hospital of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) as they departed for Venezuela.
The Minister thanked the volunteers for their "extraordinary commitment and solidarity in responding to this health emergency", describing their work as an example of Spain's solidarity with the world. In his remarks, Albares stressed that Spain's swift humanitarian response is guided not only by the principles of international solidarity and human rights, "but, in this particular case, also by a deep bond of fraternity with the Venezuelan people that is an integral part of our Ibero-American identity."
Spain's response to the crisis in Venezuela
In his remarks, the Minister stressed that, in the face of a tragedy of this magnitude, the response can only be collective. "The international community, through the United Nations system, the European Union and the wider humanitarian community, has activated emergency mechanisms that demonstrate the importance of effective multilateralism, cooperation between states and humanitarian action guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence."
Albares announced that Spain will shortly send an additional €300,000 in humanitarian assistance. The deployment of the Spanish Technical Aid Response Team (START) builds on the immediate assistance already provided by the Spanish Government. Within just 24 hours of the earthquakes in Venezuela, AECID mobilised €1 million in emergency aid for the affected population through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. AECID also worked closely with the Civil Protection authorities to deploy 63 rescue personnel and nine search and rescue dogs, together with its own assessment team tasked with identifying the most urgent healthcare needs on the ground.
"Today we send a clear message to the people of Venezuela: you are not alone," Albares said, reaffirming Spain's commitment to supporting the country's rescue, emergency response and reconstruction efforts. "We will continue working with all international partners involved to ensure a response that is effective, coordinated, coherent and commensurate with the needs on the ground."
Deployment within 36 hours
Once personnel and equipment have been deployed, the field hospital is operational within approximately 36 hours. On this occasion, the START will be deployed as a WHO EMT Type 1 field hospital, providing outpatient primary and emergency healthcare without inpatient admission and specifically designed for situations where primary healthcare services require reinforcement.
The START is designed to operate entirely self-sufficiently, with its own power generation, water supply, logistics and pharmaceutical support, thereby avoiding additional pressure on local services, which are often severely affected during the initial stages of an emergency.
A broad range of personnel mobilised
The 44 healthcare professionals, logisticians and cooks who will provide support in Venezuela come from different Autonomous Communities, local authorities and partner NGOs, including CESAL and Doctors of the World. The Minister highlighted this diversity as an example of the effectiveness of Spain's coordinated humanitarian response. A total of 90 professionals are expected to be deployed across the two planned START rotations.
Two flights have been chartered by Repsol to support the START deployment. The first, operated by Iberia, is transporting the 44 healthcare professionals, logisticians, cooks from the NGO CESAL, personnel from TRAGSA and AECID, including its Director, Antón Leis, as well as representatives of NGOs working on the ground. A second flight, departing later today from Torrejón, where AECID's logistics hangar is located, will transport the START infrastructure together with more than 150 pallets of humanitarian supplies and emergency relief items.
The START deployment is being carried out in coordination with the Venezuelan national authorities and international response mechanisms, including the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) initiative. Experience has shown that a coordinated international response is essential to saving lives. Spain therefore remains committed to multilateralism and to a coordinated humanitarian response based on identified needs on the ground and carried out in cooperation with national authorities and international organisations, avoiding duplication and ensuring that assistance reaches those who need it most.
The START response forms part of the Spanish Cooperation's specialised humanitarian capabilities. Its recent deployments demonstrate its ability to respond to a wide range of crises, including the earthquake in Türkiye (2023), the hurricane in Jamaica (2025) and Cyclone Idai in Mozambique (2019).
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