Events

MINSK, 13 November (BelTA) – A Spanish visa center was opened in the Belarusian capital on 12 November, BelTA has learnt.

Attending the official ceremony was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Spain to Russia and Belarus Jose Ignacio Carbajal Garate, Consul General of Spain Miguel Bauza, representatives of Belarusian travel agencies, general public and mass media.

The Spanish diplomat expressed confidence that the amount of Belarusian tourists in Spain would considerably increase with the opening of the center. In his words, in 2012 an estimated 11,200 Belarusians visited Spanish resorts and sights. This year this figure has already reached 18,000. “By the year end the number of Spanish visas issued to Belarusians will double,” Jose Ignacio Carbajal Garate said.

“Spain is among EU leaders that support the idea to make the route Lisbon-Vladivostok a free movement for Europeans. We are happy to provide maximum facilitation of visa issuance procedures. This is the major goal of the Spanish visa center in the Belarusian capital,” the Spanish diplomat said.

The Spanish diplomat stressed that the opening of the visa center would promote expansion of contacts between Belarus and Spain.