Passengers from the quarantined MV Hondius cruise ship have finally begun disembarking in Tenerife.

It comes after a tense overnight political row between the central government and the Canary Islands over fears surrounding the hantavirus outbreak onboard.

The expedition vessel dropped anchor off Tenerife at around 5.30am local time on Sunday, with the first to leave the ship being the 14 Spanish nationals onboard – who will be flown to Madrid.

Footage shared by the Guardia Civil showed how the Spanish military has been roped in to assist, with UME (emergency military unit) buses and vehicles filmed arriving to the evacuation port.

The operation is expected to continue through Sunday and into Monday, with passengers being transferred under strict biosecurity measures after several suspected cases of hantavirus triggered alarm among health authorities.

The disembarkation went ahead despite a dramatic late-night clash between the Spanish government and Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo, who had attempted to block the ship’s arrival hours earlier.

Clavijo argued there were not enough guarantees in place to protect the islands’ health security and claimed Madrid had failed to provide sufficient scientific or technical information about the risks posed by the outbreak.

The regional leader also insisted he had not been assured that all passengers would leave the islands on Sunday, particularly after delays affecting repatriation flights from the Netherlands and Australia.

Madrid ultimately overruled the objections and authorised the ship to anchor following a meeting involving Health Minister Monica Garcia and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.

According to government sources, Clavijo had not raised formal objections during earlier discussions and the emergency operation was already considered closed and approved.

The political confrontation has now added a fresh layer of controversy to an already highly sensitive health operation.

Meanwhile, Dutch authorities confirmed on Sunday afternoon that 29 passengers from the MV Hondius would be repatriated to the Netherlands aboard a civilian aircraft heading to Eindhoven air base.

The group includes Dutch nationals as well as passengers of other nationalities, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS.

Belgian media have also reported that two Belgian passengers are among those being transferred and will later undergo medical examinations at Antwerp University Hospital.

Dutch authorities said all passengers involved in the repatriation operation will enter a six-week home quarantine period from the date of their last high-risk contact.

Images emerging from Tenerife showed passengers leaving the vessel wearing protective suits before boarding transport vehicles bound for the airport.

Spanish passengers were later seen changing into white full-body PPE suits before boarding a military aircraft, while disposing of the blue protective gear worn during the initial evacuation from the ship.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the total number of suspected infections onboard, while health teams continue monitoring passengers and crew as the large-scale repatriation effort unfolds.