Over the past couple of weeks after the announcement of the state of alarm by the Spanish government, there has been a mammoth task taking place to repatriate tourists back to their countries of origin. In 10 days 40,000 tourists returned with the help and collaboration of airlines, tourism employers, tour operators, foreign governments, embassies, Aena and of course the Council. It is estimated that between 400 and 800 tourists remain on the island, considered either long-term, or staying in apartments and villas for vacation rental, since hotels and apartments are now closed by law. For the moment Lanzarote and the other Canary Islands are closed for tourism. International flights no longer operate to any of the islands. There are now only 4 inter-island flights, with Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and five national flights, 3 from Madrid and 2 from Barcelona, which may also be reduced because their occupancy is very low. The return operation has been deemed a success thanks to the diligence of the airlines who chartered rescue flights to collect their clients which included Jet2, TUI Eurowings, Condor, British Airways, Air Lingus and other well known aviation companies.