There were smiles and waves of goodbye as the military ship sent to collect British soldiers returning from Afghanistan set sail from Santander, Spain on Tuesday (April 20) carrying not only British soldiers but also relieved British tourists onboard. On board were 450 British soldiers returning form Afghanistan and about 300 holidaymakers, who had been trapped in Spain after flights across Europe were grounded because of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Places in the ship had been allocated by the British Embassy giving families with children priority. Other stranded passengers who had made their own way to the northern Spanish city of Santander were disappointed not to be given a place on the vessel. The official advice from the British Embassy in Spain is for stranded tourists to make their way to the northern channel ports in France. HMS Albion is a type of assault vessel known as a “Landing Platform Dock Ship” which is designed to deploy large numbers of troops. It docked in Santander on Monday. Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a sixth day on Tuesday because of the huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano, however some restrictions were being eased. added by: ctv
