"You are the finest ambassadors of Spain in Lebanon," says María Dolores de Cospedal

Along these lines, the minister stressed that "we wish to participate in the progress of the Lebanese people, help the community we form a part of and help the country to prosper". She also recalled that "our contingents collaborate on activities that directly benefit the Lebanese people".

The Minister for Defence pointed out that "we lived in a world at a time of great upheaval where security knows very few borders and the difference between security at home and abroad barely exists". For this reason, the work being carried out here "significantly helps maintain security for our families".

María Dolores de Cospedal paid particular tribute to the 15 military personnel (14 Spanish and one El Salvadorian) "who gave their lives to protect liberty, stability and our model of co-existence".

The Minister for Defence concluded her meeting with the contingent by expressing her pride at being with "our troops who are so far from home but so close to our hearts".

During her visit, María Dolores de Cospedal was accompanied by the Commander of Operations, Admiral Teodoro López Calderón. The delegation arrived in Beirut on Wednesday and spent the first working day in this capital city, where the Minister for Defence took the opportunity of meeting with her Lebanese counterpart, Yacoub Sarraf, the Minister for National Defence.

Today began with a meeting with the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri. The Minister for Defence then travel to the 'Miguel de Cervantes' base, which is the headquarters of the Spanish unit deployed in Lebanon, the majority of which is currently made up of military personnel from the 'Guzmán el Bueno X' Brigade, based in Cerro Muriano (Cordoba).

On her arrival, María Dolores de Cospedal was received by the head of the contingent, Brigadier-General Aroldo Lázaro, who explained the deployment and missions of the unit he heads up.

UNIFIL

The presence of the 'peacekeepers' on the border between Lebanon and Israel dates back to 1978. It began following the Israeli invasion, which was followed by others, the last taking place in July 2006. Following this, the United Nations Security Council, by virtue of Resolution 1701, increased the number of troops deployed there. This mandate has been extended on several occasions, the last time being in August 2016.

UNIFIL is deployed on the strip of land between the River Litana and the Israeli border and is divided into two sectors, East and West, under Spanish and Italian control respectively. Its current personnel numbers 10,578 (mainly military) from 40 different countries. Since May 2016, this mission has been under the command of Major-General Michael Beary, from Ireland. Its headquarters are located in Naquora.

Its tasks, among others, are to supervise a ceasefire and support the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in adopting measures to ensure that agreements and borders are respected and to establish a demilitarized zone.

Spain has formed part of UNIFIL since it was set up in 2006. The present Spanish contingent consists of 628 servicemen. Since this mission began, more than 28,000 Spanish servicemen and women have participated in 26 rotations, more than 160,000 patrols have been carried out, covering more than 20,000 kilometres and more than 4,400 mines and artefacts have been disposed of