Madrid authorises the isolation of MV Hondius's Spanish passengers at Gómez Ulla

The decision supports the protocol approved by the health authorities, which establishes quarantine in individual rooms, with no visitors, and a PCR test on arrival and another seven days later. If the second test is negative, the situation will be reassessed; if a PCR test is positive at any time, the person will be treated as a confirmed case.

The MV Hondius is expected to anchor in the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, during the early hours of Sunday. According to the forecast known on Saturday, the evacuation of passengers and part of the crew will begin after midday.

The judicial ratification thus clears up one of the key doubts of the past few hours: whether quarantine could be imposed compulsorily, as it affects fundamental rights. With the court’s endorsement, the health plan gains legal cover and makes it possible to carry out the transfer to Gómez Ulla under medical supervision.

At the same time, the Ministry’s protocol has also activated monitoring of contacts on land. In the Comunitat Valenciana, the health authorities have already sent the PCR test of a woman who shared a flight with a deceased person linked to the cruise ship to the Centro Nacional de Microbiología. If the tests are negative, the protocol provides for her later transfer to Gómez Ulla as a contact in quarantine; if they are positive, she would be handled as a confirmed case in a high-isolation unit.

In Catalonia, the Generalitat had already reported days earlier that the five Catalans on board the cruise ship were asymptomatic, in quarantine and in good health. That information reinforces the preventive approach of the authorities, who are seeking to contain the risk before the incubation period ends.

From the outset, the Ministry of Health has argued that Spain should receive the vessel in the Canary Islands for reasons of international law and coordination with international organisations. Now, with judicial endorsement of the quarantine, the focus shifts from political debate to carrying out the health operation.

In summary, the judicial ratification of compulsory quarantine for the Spaniards on the MV Hondius reinforces the operation designed by the health authorities to contain any possible transmission of hantavirus in Spanish territory. With the ship already heading for Tenerife and the transfer to Hospital Gómez Ulla planned, the focus now shifts from the legal debate to epidemiological monitoring and strict compliance with a protocol intended to stop a rare but potentially serious virus.